Jordan's 2 Year Check-Up

I took Jordan in to the doctor today for his 2 year check-up. He weighed in at a lowly 21 lbs there (clothed!) and was 33 inches tall. He is the 20th percentile for height, which is about where he's been, but as predicted he dropped from the growth chart for weight. He is less than 3rd percentile for his weight. The doctor wasn't overly concerned and neither am I. He does want him to come in in another three months for a weight check though.

He said he may have some underlying issues such as a malabsorption issue or even possibly Crohn's disease or colitis or something, judging by his low weight and the frequent amount of stools he has each day. However, generally with those conditions you would see blood in the stool as well as complaints of stomach pain, which we have not noticed. He said it could just be that he's going to be a thin kid and this is his new normal. So we'll just watch and see. In the meantime I am to try to give him extra calories when possible. He gave me a recipe for high calorie chocolate milk and Jordan gobbled down his first glass when we got home. He's back on whole milk instead of skim for awhile now too.

Otherwise, he checked out perfectly healthy with no concerns. I did forget to ask about him wanting to eat dog food but he hasn't been doing that as often anymore so that's okay.

The doctor was very impressed with his language and says he's at about a three year old level for speaking. We skipped vaccines this time because he's been sick with a cold and low grade fever.

He goes back in for a three year appointment next September and a weight check in December (we're bringing him for Jake's 4 year appointment in December) We'll be catching him up on his vaccines at that time too, granted he's not sick then.

Overall it was a good appointment and Jordan is still a healthy little boy. (Emphasis on the little!)  :-)

World Breastfeeding Week: Breastfed Babies Grow Differently {Guest Post}

{This is a guest post provided by Brittany at The Pistachio Project}

Brittany lives in Seattle with her husband and three children (a 6 year old, a 5 year old,

and a 1 year old) She enjoys researching everything that involves living naturally and

writes about her increasingly crunchy life at The Pistachio Project.

Breastfed Babies Grow Differently

No matter how much you try not to, I think we all like to see how our kids are “measuring up”. Whether it’s seeing if your baby is rolling over as early as the other babies or if it’s comparing percentiles; there’s a baby competition out there.


I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing. It’s nice to know where your baby is at comparatively. The issue lies when you are comparing your baby with a faulty system.


I currently have three children; two boys and one girl. Both my boys were formula fed for reasons I won’t bother to get into here. As they were on formula, they were always on the charts where they should be. My daughter on the other hand was exclusively breastfed. Her percentiles never looked like they “should.”


Before my daughter’s 9 month appointment with the doctor, I decided to weigh her at home and get an idea of how much she weighed. I stepped on the scale to weight just myself and then I stepped on it again with my daughter to weigh both of us. I did the math… I re-check the math. I hopped on the internet to see where she is on the percentiles. I freak out. She isn’t even ON the charts!!! (Previously she had been at
15%)


I did not realize this until my freak out with my daughter but breastfed babies apparently gain weight differently than formula-fed babies. Breastfed babies tend to be bigger then formula babies from about birth to 6 months, which usually looks great when your breastfed baby gets measured at the doctor’s office. However from 6 months on things switch and suddenly formula-fed babies are bigger and breastfed babies look like they are dropping off the charts.


It’s really important to keep this fact in mind if you have a breastfed baby and let me tell you why.


Keeping this fact in mind, will help you realize that your baby is not suddenly dropping off the charts


For those who have chunk-a-monk babies in the first few months, it means that if your doctor tells you to lay off the breastfeeding because your baby is “huge”, you will know that it’s not that your baby is an overeater but rather your doctor is using a chart based on formula fed babies. (More about that in a minute!)


For those of you who have the itty bitty babies or the ones who look like they suddenly are dropping percentiles after that first 6 months, it means that you know your baby is more than likely growing just fine and doesn’t need formula to supplement. It just means you need to compare your baby on the proper chart.

The problem with growth charts

Most doctors use the CDC Growth Chart for babies. This chart is based on mainly formula-fed babies however. This means that when your breastfed baby is compared to this chart, it looks like she is not where she should be. You can’t expect to compare a breastfed baby on a formula baby growth chart. It will not look good.


Thankfully, the World Health Organization put together a new growth chart, which is based on predominately breastfed babies. This is the chart that breastfed babies should be compared on. It follows a breastfed babies higher percentiles the first few months and then it follows the lower percentiles for the later months.


Breastfed babies grow differently then their formula-fed peers. This isn’t a bad thing; it’s just something we all need to be aware of. Knowing this information means that when you walk into the doctor’s office you are armed with the knowledge that perhaps your baby isn’t falling off the charts; perhaps they do not need formula (now I don’t want to suggest that you should never supplement with formula. There are legitimate times when a baby might need formula. I’m just suggesting that you at least see where your baby lines up on the proper growth chart before making any decisions). If your doctor is concerned about your baby’s weight, be sure to ask them what chart they are using! Odds are it’s the CDC chart and you should mention that you’d rather they compare your breastfed baby to the WHO chart which was designed for breastfed babies.


Even if your doctor is fine with your baby’s weight but it is you who is spending late nights pouring over percentiles, you can check out the WHO chart and more then likely put your fears to ease. That was me. As I mentioned before, I freaked out when I weighed my daughter at 9 months. It looked like she was suddenly not on the charts at all. However, I pulled up the WHO chart and guess what? She was perfectly holding her petite 15th%. My baby was just fine; she was growing just as a breastfed baby should. I just needed to know that breastfed babies grow differently.

Small Victories

Lifestyle changes are hard. Slowly, and without my even noticing it, I started making lifestyle changes and suddenly I woke up one day realizing how unhealthy my behavior had become. I had gained an embarrassing amount of weight and gotten myself into bad unhealthy habits. And now I am trying to slowly, and without my even noticing it, change those behaviors again into healthy habits. 

I've started by celebrating my small victories. The little things I do that will -- hopefully -- some day add up to big results. A small victory can be taking the stairs instead of the elevator at work or parking farther away from the door to a store. It can be taking the dog for a walk even if I am too tired or saying no to a snack or dessert that I don't really need. It can be choosing healthy items for dinner -- like salad or fish -- instead of pizza and pasta. Or simply stopping eating when I feel full. That seems logical and yet it's something I struggle with. 

Yesterday's small victory happened at the end of a long day. We came home and I started pulling things out to make pasta salad when I realized I didn't have one of the ingredients. How easy it would have been to jump in my car and drive to the store to pick it up. It would have taken no more than ten minutes. Instead, without even really putting much thought into it, I jumped on my bike and biked to the store and back. And I felt great about myself for doing so! 

And that's what I'm trying to do more of -- small steps to a healthier lifestyle. Steps that I don't necessarily even think about. I'm trying to build habits of health into my daily life. The goal isn't to lose the weight, although that would be GREAT, the goal is to become a healthier version of me. Someone I can be proud of and someone who will be a good role model for my kids. 

What are your small victories? What have you done to improve your health today? 

30 Day Shred - Week One

Well I survived the first seven days of The 30 Day Shred. I went ahead and cheated yesterday and bumped myself up to level 2 early. Yeah, that was a big fat mistake. I'll be sticking with level 1 for my next 3 days before I am forced into awful level 2. Here's where I'm at so far...

Weight: + 1 lb. I'm trying not to be disappointed by this but it's still upsetting to work hard and not see results. My husband keeps reminding me that muscle weighs more than fat but I was still hoping for a lower number.

Waist: No change. Also frustrating.

Hips: - 1 cm. (Yep, I'm measuring in cm's because my measuring tape is cm only) So at least that's some progress.

Thigh: +4cm!!!! Ahhhhhh!!!! I'm not sure if I didn't measure it in exactly the same spot {though I thought I did} but it's frustrating to go up so much! I can feel my thighs are getting stronger though.


Overall: Overall, I think the theme of the first week is frustration. I was hoping for more results by now. But I'll just keep trucking and see what happens.

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Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred

Yesterday I started Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. I'm not going to lie, it totally kicked my butt! I'm more out of shape than I thought!

This morning, to my surprise, I didn't wake up too sore. I had just a mild ache in my thighs and nothing else. And I am happy to report that Day 2 of the workout went better. Already it's easier and my endurance is improving.

I took my weight and measurements yesterday and I will track my results and let you know how it goes and how much success {or lack thereof!} I have with the program.

The cutest thing ever, however, is watching my kids try and do it with me. So much fun! Jacob gets really into doing the jumping jacks and things with me. Jordan laid down right by my side and tried to do push ups next to me. A-DOR-A-BLE!

Here's to a new, skinny me!


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Personal Challenge: Day 3

Today was Weightless Wednesday and the challenge was to weigh yourself. Easy enough!

I am not up or down from where I was on Sunday when I weighed myself. No real surprise there.

Up next: Thirsty Thursday. Drinking 8+ glasses of water a day (and nothing else to drink!) This will be a big challenge being at work. But if I force myself to drink a small cup (8oz) of water after I finish my morning meds and drink a big glass (16oz) at lunch, plus another 8oz cup before I leave for the day, I'll only have 4 more glasses to do in the evening. It can be done but it will be challenging. Wish me luck!

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Weight Gain

For a baby who couldn't be bothered to wake up to eat for the first week of life, Jordan has sure put on the weight! My little chunk is now 8lbs 10oz!! This is a 2lb gain since birth and he is just two days shy of 3 weeks old. Obviously, he's been nursing better now.

Not much else to update on at this point. I'll leave with a picture of Jordan from yesterday.

30 Weeks & Ear Infections

Today marks 30 weeks in this pregnancy, or 3/4 of the way through. I can't believe that 2-3 months from now we will be holding another little peanut in our arms. This is both terrifying and exciting at the same time. To date, I have gained about 20-21 lbs which is pretty average I think. And other than feet and leg cramps and a few other unmentionable aches and pains, I don't have too many complaints this time. The nausea has finally subsided - knock on wood!

Jacob was diagnosed with his first (and hopefully only) ear infection yesterday. It is on the right side. It must be pretty mild because he never had a fever and he never really pulled on his ears or anything. But he was sleeping terrible so Matt brought him in to the doctor. And sure enough, that's what was going on. He was started on amoxicillin -- which he LOVES to take -- and also given some pain relieving drops for his ears.

I am also sick with sinusitis yet again. I have a ton of fluid on my left ear and a little bit on my right ear but neither of those are infected, thankfully. I was given an antibiotic that I can take if things don't improve on their own (just in case, since it's the weekend) but usually it does go away on its own. Here's hoping!! This has been the year of being sick in our family!

Well I suppose that's the update for today!

28 weeks

Today I am 28 weeks pregnant, the official start to the third - and final - trimester. (Yikes!) I gained 5 lbs last week (*gasp!* mostly because I was sick and LOST weight the week before) but that puts my total weight gain to date at roughly 20 lbs. The average woman gains 11 lbs in the last trimester which would still be only 31 lbs total and that is acceptable. So I guess I'm happy with it.

28 weeks on July 16, 2010

I did my glucose screening test last Monday but I haven't heard any results back yet. I go for a check-up on Monday so I should know something then.

Yesterday Matt took Jacob to the Children's Museum. He had a fun time playing there. There are lots of activities and a section for just little ones.

Today we took Jacob to the beach at Gun Lake. We went with our friend Amanda and her 3 kids - Alexis, Logan, and Evalyn. We had fun. Jake was so worn out! And so was I. We both took a nice long nap when we got home.

Tomorrow we are planning a trip to the zoo. Jacob is going to love it because he loves animals. It's been a fun weekend for us!

Jacob at Gun Lake

Jacob & Evalyn at the lake

Halfway

So today marks 20 weeks in this pregnancy, or halfway. It's hard to believe. It seemed week by week had gone so slow and now here we are and it seems like the whole thing has gone so quickly. I am sure that doesn't make any sense.

My current total weight gain is 9-10 lbs. Not too bad! Considering that at this point in my pregnancy with Jake, I was 19 lbs heavier than I am right now, I am pretty happy about this :-)

A week from today we'll have our ultrasound and find out if we're growing a boy or a girl baby. Don't forget to guess in the baby game. The link is on the right hand side of this page.