9 month check-up

The boys had theirs on Thursday and overall, I think it was a pretty good appointment. Braxton is healthy as a horse as usual-19 pounds, 6 ounces and 27 inches long. He has some pretty nasty eczema spots that I've been complaining about for a while and we FINALLY got the go ahead on the steroid cream. Caleb...oh Caleb. Well, the good news is that his hidden testicle has decided to come out and play with his brother! My husband was thrilled about that one. The not-so-good news is that he dropped from the 20th to the 6th percentile in weight since his 6 month check-up (adjusted age). The doctor thinks it could be because he is taking in more solids now. And the plain old crappy news is that he still hears his murmur, but it has changed from what he descrbed as a swishing murmur to a musical murmur. I've read that the musical one is usually the functional one, but he's more concerned that the sound changed. So this plus the fact that he hasn't been growing as quickly equals ECHO. He doesn't seem too concerned and he says there's probably about a 10 to 20 % chance that it's something other than an innocent murmur, but he wants to be sure. They hit several more milestones since the last visit. Crawling however is not one of them Braxton can army crawl with the best of them but he's not interested in being on his knees. Caleb is still doing his breakdancing circles and going backwards, but not so much forwards. His new favorite pasttime is eating any and every solid food I put in front of him if you can believe that . So that's the scoop.

I have to add that we met with Carrie (ceb023) and her boys on Thursday and had a great time. We went to the Children's Museum (Houston) and hung out in their room designated for toddlers. Her boys are even more handsome in person and have so much personality! It was my first blind date...sure am glad she didn't turn out to be a freak :lol:

 

I'm sorry Caleb will have to have the Echo done, but at least you will know for sure what is going on. Sounds like they are doing great with solids...finally! :lol:

It's great that you got to meet Carrie! Any pics?

 

QUOTE(serranoboys @ Mar 22 2008, 09:37 PM) [snapback]682695[/snapback]
He doesn't seem too concerned and he says there's probably about a 10 to 20 % chance that it's something other than an innocent murmur, but he wants to be sure.


:hug99: I'm sure you are worried, but it's good that the doctor just wants to be sure. I'm hoping it's nothing, keep us updated!

:yahoo: Braxton and Caleb!! :yahoo:

 

At least you got some good news. Congrats on the appt.

 

Don't be too disheartened with the weight % drop, that routinely happens with bf babies around this age. Just focus on nursing and giving nice naturally fatty solids (ebm slushies, avocado, banana,etc).
When is the ECHO?

 

QUOTE(excitedk @ Mar 23 2008, 03:59 AM) [snapback]682866[/snapback]
Don't be too disheartened with the weight % drop, that routinely happens with bf babies around this age. Just focus on nursing and giving nice naturally fatty solids (ebm slushies, avocado, banana,etc).
When is the ECHO?

It's short for echocardiogram and it's basically a way to examine the structure of the heart. Glad to hear this is normal for breastfed babies.

 

That is great you got some steroid creme for the eczema. Hope it helps it clear it up.

Sorry to hear Caleb has to have the ECHO. It does sound good that his doctor doesn't seem too concerned. Please keep us updated.

Glad you got to meet up with another TS mom That is wonderful.

Dianna

 

I'm glad at least some of the news was good! My two sound like yours -- I have one army crawler, and another who also goes backward on her belly, LOL. Not so much with the actual crawling here, either.

It is *really* common to see weight drops at 9 months with BF babies -- they're so distracted at this age. It happened with my older DD, and my ped at the time pushed supplementing -- which I did, which led to weaning earlier than I wanted. So, I'd advise you to keep an eye on it, but power through if you want to keep nursing!!

Hope the Echo sets your mind at ease. Don't worry about the procedure itself -- Kevan had one at 11 weeks, in the hospital after his surgery (someone heard a murmur that turned out to be totally nothing) -- and it's exactly like an ultrasound, not invasive and no big deal for the baby at all.

 

Sounds like a great check up overall. I know that I have always heard that some babies never crawl - I don't even think it is considered a milestone.

It is nice that your ped is being overly cautious, much better than the alternative.

Our ped gave my Jack steroid cream at a much younger age but it really worked and cleared the excezma right up!

Yeah for 9 months!

 

Congrats on the good stuff! So much to be proud of and thankful for. Jacob dropped from the 25th to 10th %ile at 9 months. I know how hard it is not to worry about the weight... but try not to. Good luck with the Echo. Please keep us updated on how it all turns out. Of course, I really hope it's just an innocent murmur!

 

Ditto pps on the percentile drop - I'd have to check the charts, but I'm pretty sure it happened to us too. Like pps said, it's distraction, plus solids, plus mobility (even if there's not real crawling yet, they are trying so hard to do it) - the perfect storm!

My Andrew has a heart murmur too - we're going to the cardiologist today, in fact. But everybody has told me that heart murmurs are SO common in infants, and almost all the time they are no big deal and just resolve on their own in time. I hope the echo will set your mind at ease. (And I hope Caleb will sit still for it! When Andrew had one, they had a heck of a time imaging everything because he was so squirmy.)

Congrats on all the good news! I'm glad Braxton hasn't taken any "Make Mama Worry" lessons from Caleb, and that everything else looks good. Hooray for descending testicles too! :lol:

And hey Caleb - obviously you didn't listen to me last time, but it's really time to get with the program and stop making mom worry! Cut the crap, man!

 

Yay for the good news!! It doesnt sound like the doc is too worried. I have a heart murmur and it acts up when I take certain cold medicines but other than that I havent had too many problems.

As for the weight, they are little boys who are on the move. They dont have time to sit and eat, there's exploring to be done!

Good luck with the ECHO!

 

Sorry you are dealing with that stuff. Sounds like you have a good medical team and they are keeping a good eye on him. Sending you hugs and strength. I like reading your blog.