Messin' with Momma

Carter had his two week check-up today. His proud parents, feeling good about feedings and sleep and such, were optimistic for a good report. Now, when Carter made his grand appearance into this world he weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces. As is typical, he lost a bit of weight in those first few days, weighing 7 lbs 4 oz. when we left the hospital and 7 lbs 5 oz. at the one week check-up. If everything was going good, at two weeks he should be back up to birth weight or more.

But…this afternoon, with his parents anxiously watching, the scale read just 7 pounds 4 ounces! Seven four?!? How could this be? The ensuing fifteen minute wait for the registered nurse (RN) was a worrisome stretch. What had we done wrong? Is he not eating enough? Will we have to switch to formula? Is he sick? What could it be? What is the treatment? What have we done to our poor child? As you might have guessed, Tracy took the lead in this discussion while Adam tried, in vain, to allay the fears.

Finally, the RN arrived. She calmly agreed with our concern about the weight, but before following us into the worst-case-scenario brainstorm, she recommended that we re-weigh the little guy. “The machine can be funny,” she said. Back at the scales, and with less optimistic parents looking over, Carter squirmed and the scales read eight pounds. EIGHT POUNDS! Well above the birth weight. The anxious parents breathed a sigh of relief.

Just to keep the fun going—and perhaps to make his momma feel a little better—Carter decided to show off a bit. The RN had commented on Carter’s strength for his age. Maybe it was the truth or maybe she was just trying to make us feel better from the weight mix-up. In any case, she indicated that Carter is ready for some tummy time. During a quick demonstration of tummy time, Carter tried out a quasi-crawl (moving arms and legs, but not really going anywhere). And then, get this, the boy rolled over! (Something expected for the four-month check-up.) Well, okay, so it was more of a flop than a roll, but we were all impressed.

So, in the end, Carter is a healthy fella. His momma will, no doubt, continue to worry for him. And Carter will, no doubt, continue messing with her.