Monday, August 10, 2009

Walt at 2 weeks

Walt and I headed to the pediatrician this morning while Matt worked from home to watch Dean. I had hoped we'd pass everything with flying colors. But not so.

She commented on his long extremities noting that he has very long arms and legs in comparison to his body. Not good or bad, just an observation.

He was a little uncooperative and wouldn't open his eyes for his eye check. He was also very resistant to the hip check.

The good:
weight: 7 lbs. 10 oz.
  • He's gained back all of the weight he lost in the hospital (he was 6 lbs. 15 oz. when we left) and added 2 oz. for good measure. Good. We need to get a little meat on those bones.
height: 21 1/4 in.
  • He grew 3/4 in. in 2 weeks. Not bad.
His circumcision has healed nicely.

Hips seem fine (though he was very uncooperative with his left leg and wouldn't let her move it for awhile. Strong legs.)

His jaundice is mostly gone. His nose is still a little yellow, but you wouldn't look at him and think he looks jaundiced.

The not so good:
He has a little heart murmur. She didn't seem overly concerned about it but wanted us to go to a cardiologist to get an ultrasound. It could be one of two things.
  1. He could have Peripheral Pulmonic Stenosis.
  2. He could have Ventrical septal defect (VSD). That's a small hole in the heart.
Hopefully it's really not a big deal...

His cord hasn't fallen off yet, but it should be ok as long as it falls off in the next 2 weeks. She thought it needed to be aired out a bit and that if it starts to stink to use the alcohol like they used to recommend.

There's also a minor urological issue, but hopefully that will resolve itself in the next month or two.

What he's like so far:
He's really been a good baby. Doesn't cry a whole lot THANK HEAVENS!! He is a pacifier kind of guy and almost always wants to be sucking something (his hands, the blanket, a pacifier) when he's awake. So long as he is sucking, he's generally happy. He doesn't like diaper changes much, but he hasn't made a real fuss over the sponge baths. He sleeps pretty well, much better than Dean did so far. He's kind of a grunter and is a little noisy in his sleep, so sometimes I think he wants to eat when he doesn't. He's pretty tolerant of Dean's "loves" and "hits". Dean has already tried to make him stand up by pulling on his arms, and today Dean tried to pick him up by his feet. I got there just in time to make sure his head didn't slide right off the swing and hit the ground. Guess I need to belt him in so Dean can't do that.

Overall he looks like my side whereas Dean has more of his daddy in him. The mouth and chin are different from my family though. You can't tell in these pictures, but he has a cleft chin. It's pretty cute.

4 comments:

Jessica Baird said...

very cute! He does have a very different look to him than Dean does. We think our two looks very different, so it will be interesting to see if #3 looks more like one or the other of her sisters, or has her own total different look. How are you feeling and doing? Recovering fast, or nice and slow? Remember that one of the best things for your baby is to take care of yourself too, so don't feel bad or guilty when you make your own time (if its possible). That is always hard for me with a new baby around.

Erin said...

Oh my goodness! I hope everything turns out alright with his heart. He sure is cute, no matter what!

Kristi said...

You and Matt make cute babies. :)

Kate had a murmur when she was 0-9 months, too. She saw a cardiologist a couple times and at 3 months they determined it was just a flow murmur that she'd simply grow out of, which she did. Maybe it's nothing serious at all.

AmyJane said...

Ooh, he's a cutie! I'm just finally checking blogs and I kind of missed a lot in the blog world!
I hope the heart thing turns out well. Kennedy had an atrial septal defect at birth, which we just learned recently has closed itself, so yay for that. Hopefully you'll see an awesome pediatric cardiologist. We loved ours, and it was very reassuring to have a good doctor throughout the process. Good luck.