Calorie Fest!

Elizabeth has been a peanut since Day One, when she was born at 6 pounds 2 ounces. At all of her weigh-ins at the pediatrician since, she has been in the lowest percentiles, but always following her curve.

At her six month appointment last month, she was falling a bit off her curve, so I was told to bring her back in one month for a weigh-in. That was last week. The peanut was even more peanutty than I had thought; she'd only gained 5 ounces in one month. Yikes! What had happened: When I started giving her solid foods, it just wasn't enough. I had followed the advice of Dr. Sears (who gives somewhat "earthy" advice; my sister-in-law follows him and she's raising three healthy kids), among which tidbits were that babies did not really *need* solids until 6 months, and that when they did, a fist-sized amount of food was enough for tiny tummies. Also, Elizabeth's cousins have a history of food allergies (although we think it's on their other side of the family), another reason I wanted to delay.

Anyway, despite all my good intentions, Peanut just wasn't getting enough calories, between the small amounts of solids and what has probably been low breast milk production. I was told to really pile on the calories! So, over the last week I've added an extra feeding of solids into her day, and do NOT stop feeding her them until she's clearly done. I add some formula in between breastfeedings, too. And today we went for her weigh in and she had gained 7 ounces in a week--more than she had in the last month!

Part of me feels really guilty that my poor baby was so hungry. I'd had no idea; she's a very happy kid, and has been meeting her milestones well (she sits like a champ!). For all my good intentions at introducing foods, it just wasn't right for E. I guess that's what parenting will be like for the next 18 years (see my previous post called "The Great Experiment"!). But I'm shaking off the worry and just having fun feeding her--it's pretty entertaining for both of us! She loves her pears, applesauce, bananas, carrots, and prunes (have yet to introduce the "grosser" veggies, like peas...) She gets a kick out of "Puffs", the baby cereal that helps her practice using her pincer grasp to self-feed. (And I get a kick out of finding the random Puff that hasn't made it into her mouth...stuck to her legs, or inside her diaper!) Best of all, the insanely crappy sleep patterns of the last several weeks (literally awakening 2-3 times a night) have subsided into one wakeup, when I go in to feed her. Bliss!!! (I'd better not speak too soon...)