Monday, November 3, 2008

12 Weeks/3 Month Update

Yes, Jax is 12 weeks old today. What a crazy 12 weeks it has been but I love being his mommy everyday. He is my heart living outside of my body (I read that somewhere).

We took Jaxon in this morning for his vaccination only appointment. He received two shots--Pc and HIB--one in each thigh according to the alternative vaccine schedule we are following (see Too Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate post in October). Poor little guy took it like a champ this time. He cried for a couple of minutes and then was back to smiling again with daddy. We got into the car and he fell asleep on the way home. He has been asleep now for almost 2 hours (a long time for Jax) and is still going. The vaccinations can make them sleepy or fussy...looks like this round made him sleepy. We head back again next month for his 4 month well-baby check up where he will receive his second dose of DTaP.

We weighed him real quick because I swear he is getting so heavy. Yep...he weighs 13 pounds now. He has doubled his weight since birth. So he has gained a pound and a half in 3 weeks (so half a pound a week) so it has slowed a little (he was gaining a pound a week originally) but still he is gaining steadily.

She also looked at his rash on his left cheek. She thinks it is from his excessive drooling. She also thinks he is teething. Yikes! I thought this might be what has been making him a little fussy but thought it was little early. My mom says that I got my first teeth at 4 months so maybe he is taking after me. Anyway...we will be trying to keep his face dry (an almost impossible task with the amount of drool he is making right now) and put some natural ointment on it when it is clean. Since he is so young normal teething techniques don't work as well since he doesn't have the hand coordination to hold something in his mouth and he can't chew on stuff. We will just have to help him which is what we have been doing...holding stuff for him to chew on. She doesn't expect a tooth to appear any time soon...maybe in a month or two but she says the most painful part is when they are pushing up through the jaw bones a month or two before hand. Poor baby! :(

We also took him to see a chiropractor who sees infants. She is at the same location as our pediatrician. We went because Jax's head is developing a little lopsided. His right ear and forehead are slightly higher than his left. We want to correct this now so it doesn't get more pronounced.

Don't worry!!! She doesn't crack him like they do to adults. It is more pressure techniques and changes in our habits at home. He is a little tight in his neck on the left side. This causes him to favor looking and laying to one side over the other. She thinks this could be from being engaged so early in the womb or from trauma from birth that many babies go through. He did get stuck for a couple of minutes during pushing (see Birth Story Part 3 post in August) so I am not surprised. If we fix it now then it won't get worse over time. So both Jaxon and I will be seeing her once a week for awhile. I need to continue the care I started while pregnant but have not had time for since I had him. Plus my issues in my neck have gotten worse from looking down while breastfeeding.

Hopefully Jaxon and I will see much improvement quickly.

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