2 Month Check-Up

On Friday, I took Lucas to the doctor for his 2 month well-baby check up. And it turns out that he is, indeed, well. He weighed 11lbs 7oz (50th percentile) and measured 22 1/2 inches long (25th percentile). He is also right on track with all of his developmental milestones (i.e. holding his head up, tracking objects, smiling, etc). I voiced our concern that he isn't really interested in toys - he doesn't bat at them or engage with them at all -the only thing he is interested in looking at is his bear mobile and people. The pediatrician said that this is often the case with second children - when they have something as fun and interesting to look at as their older sibling running around (and our energetic Ellie is certainly entertaining), silly little baby toys are totally boring. So that made us feel a whole lot better.
Ellie gives her brother a check up
Ever since the eye infection during his first week of life, Luke's eyes (mostly his left eye) have been a mucousy mess. His eye weeps almost constantly. It is not red or inflamed, just constantly weepy with mucous and/or tears. The doctor said that this is due to a blocked tear duct and there is nothing we can really do about it. We can massage it, which should help a little, but often children that have this problem continue to have it until they are at least one and the duct fully finishes developing. We also talked about his congestion - last week I decided that Luke couldn't just have a simple cold because he is congested all of he time. We're talking constantly. Some times are much worse then others, but I really don't think it's a cold. The doctor suggested using a humidifier to moisten the air, and to use saline solution when it gets bad. We also talked about his cradle cap, which looks gross and is making him bald, but is harmless. She suggested rubbing olive oil on his head several times a day to keep the scalp moist. I have not tried this yet, as it seems like it would be weird and smelly and make his head look oily and much more disgusting than a flaky scalp. Maybe it's something I will try later if it really starts to get out of hand.

That's when she broke the news...she said the combination of the severity of his eye goo, the severity of his cradle cap and the congestion issue means that he could have...that's right...a dairy allergy! I kid you not. I nearly fell over and died right then and there. She suggested that I give up dairy for a few days - if all of these issues get extremely better then dairy could be exacerbating all of these problems. If there isn't any significant improvement then I can go ahead and put dairy back in my diet.

I have to admit that it is extremely hard to muster up the will power to give up dairy again. It was a little different with Ellie because she was in extreme abdominal pain, had a head to toe itchy rash, horrible eczema and was totally uncomfortable and unhappy. Luke just has a gooey eye, a stuffy nose and a flaky scalp - all things that don't seem to bother him in the least. So I was going to do this 3 day no dairy test over the weekend, but we had too many things in the fridge with dairy in them and I feel like I need a little more mental preparation before I dive into the dairy free life again. I know it's just three days and it probably seems selfish to not just do it, but I feel like I need to be prepared to give dairy up completely if he does, in fact, have the allergy and I am just not quite ready yet. I am going to start on Monday though, so wish me luck!

I'd had so many saved up questions for our pediatrician that it actually slipped my mind that it was also crazy amounts of shots day. Luke received FIVE vaccinations (three in one leg, two in the other) as well as an oral roto virus vaccination (the taste of which did not impress him and he spit a large percentage out. Hopefully that does not mean that he could still get the roto virus). I'd forgotten how horrible it is to witness your baby getting shots. Not that it's all roses and lilies to take a 2 year old in for shots, but at least you can explain to a 2 year old what's going on and prepare her for the event. Little babies just scream and cry and stare at you with sad, begging eyes that say "Why are you letting this person hurt me!? Make it stop!" And you never really get used to seeing your child screaming and bleeding, even if you are actually doing something good for them. But his anger was short lived. He was a little crabby and sleepy (sleepier than usual which is pretty sleepy) the rest of the day, but by Saturday morning he was back to his normal self.

And then in two more months we get to go and do it all again!