ex machina
the eric update - 242: yet another rsv shot. or hanging out in the doctor's office for an interminable period of time.
it's the beginning of the month, which means that it's time for another rsv shot and another official weighin. we were a little surprised to see that odin has only gained a paltry 10 ounces since his rsv shot, which is the smallest rate of growth over a month we've seen since he was born. but the good doctor assured us it was all completely normal and not to worry.
and after hearing that odin recovered so quickly from his recent "flu", he concluded that it wasn't the flu at all, but rather the symptoms were probably the result of the the incredible, unedible egg. thankfully he reassured us that we hadn't given odin salmonella poisoning or a rotten egg, but that it was simply a case of too much "rich" food in one sitting ( aha! candy was right! ).
for those keeping track with your calculators at home, i'm guessing that his new weight gains would push the cost of this single rsv shot for our million dollar baby to over $3,000. and since our insurer changed it's policy and now refused to cover rsv shots, i'd like to thank all you law-abiding taxpayers, since medicaid is footing the bill.
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of course, i can't sit in a confined area for long periods of time without shooting a few pictures.
3/03/2005 09:14:00 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
The weight gains will naturally slow down and then start to plateau after the one year mark. It is completely normal, and I will tell you that both my boys dropped in percentiles. Don't ever let someone tell you that percentiles matter. I had gone to a different doc when Adam's ped was not available. He had dropped from the 40th percentile to the 25th (and, believe me, this kid eats plenty) She told me that they like to see all their patients get up to about the 50th percentile. I started to wonder if this woman had a medical degree after all! If all babies were supposed to be in the 50th percentile, why the hell would they have percentiles??? Oh, and she said that I should give him whole milk, lots of ice cream and french fries to fatten him up (LOL, like I had him on some kind of a low fat diet? We don't drink whole milk cause it's icky, but he really loves cheese and yogurt, so I think he gets plenty of fat!) I just shook my head and said "I can guarantee that he's not going to jump percentiles" Needless to say, It proved my point that not all doctors are handing out good advice.
So, as far as weight gain goes, try not to look at the numbers and don't let anyone else bother you if they get hung up on numbers either. If he is growing, making milestones, and generally happy, then he's fine.
What heartwrenching news about the other NICU baby. It does make you want to hold your own little one closer and count your blessings, doesn't it? I have a friend who has gone through baby loss more than once and it just breaks my heart. It isn't fair that anyone should go through that kind of loss. Are you guys going to take Odin on the M.O.D. Walk America this year? If so, I think we need to design him a "miracle baby" t-shirt to wear during the Walk. :-D
If all babies were supposed to be in the 50th percentile, why the hell would they have percentiles??? |
ha! it's funny that our pediatrician is the one who is the least concerned with percentiles. we're not obsessed with a particular percentile but rather we look at changes in the "rate of change", since that might ( but not always ) indicate that something is "wrong" ( cold, flu, whatnot ). so really, we're just trying to adjust to moving from over 1.5 ounce/day weight gains to slightly under 0.5 ounce/day gains in a relatively short timeframe.
Are you guys going to take Odin on the M.O.D. Walk America this year? |
ironically, i'm not sure if we're going to be able to do the walk america this year, for reasons that will become clear soon :-) thanks for reminding me to look into exactly what weekend at the end of april the walk will taking place in our area.
I see that it is April 30 in GR, and April 23 in GB. My friend does the walk every year and says its really fun. Unfortunately, we can't do it this year because it's on our beach weekend. But, I just found out that you can do ebay auctions for March Of Dimes through Missionfish.org... so stay tuned ;-D
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“"it is hard to be brave," said piglet, sniffing slightly, "when you're only a Very Small Animal." rabbit, who had begun to write very busily, looked up and said: "it is because you are a very small animal that you will be Useful in the adventure before us."”
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this site chronicles the continuing adventures of my son, odin, who was unexpectedly born on the fourth of july at 25 weeks gestation, weighing 1 pound 7 ounces.
he's quite a fighter and you can always send him a postcard to the most current address listed here if you're inspired by his adventures. see the postcard project/google maps mashup to see a map of the postcards.
if you're new, you can browse the archives to catch up. and don't forget to watch a few movies that i made while we were in the neonatal intensive care unit. or if you want the abridged version and you can find a copy, you can read about his adventures in the november 2005 issue of parents magazine.
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