First Bites

Annika had her 6-7 month well-baby appointment last Friday. She is doing very well, except that she is still anemic. So back on the iron. But the doctor said, "She's big!" with raised eyebrows and a surprised look on his face. (I, on the other hand, am not too surprised. We grow 'em big in this family and it was only a matter of time.) She's also about where she should be developmentally; the doc had recommended "baby gymnastics" (physical therapy) at her last appointment, which we didn't follow through on because of her surgery in November and going to the States in December. Now he still recommends it, but only in an "all babies would benefit" way.

We do need to make an appointment to see a pediatric cardiologist for an ultrasound of her heart. When she was born, she had a very small hole in her heart, which the doctors said was nothing to worry about and would probably close up on its own. Now is the time to see if that has happened.

It was also interesting to see first hand the difference a few decades make in how a doctor approaches the same issue. Annika's doc (who I'll Dr. Smith) is new to the practice, probably in his thirties. Katrina's doc (Dr. Smythe) is near retirement age (hence the addition of the young guy to the practice). Katrina has had minor stomach ailments on and off, and nearly every time I mention that I have celiac disease, and maybe we should check Katrina for it? Since it's genetic and all? And Dr. Smythe brushes me off (with the exception of the last time, when it finally seemed to register, but we still decided to see if it Zantac would help before doing other tests).

I mentioned that I have celiac to Annika's doc, in the context of when/what to feed her solid foods. Dr. Smith says, "Oh, we can do a genetic test next time we need to draw blood, just so you know if she's at risk. And she doesn't even need to be eating gluten for a genetic test." Score!

Also this week, Annika started on solids. We started with rice cereal, and I added some mashed banana after a few days. I was startled to realize how much I've forgotten about this stage. I remember Katrina loving sweet potato, but when did I introduce it? With Katrina, I did what I always do when faced with a new situation: read a million books about what to do and then decide. With Annika, I keep thinking, "I've done this before," and then totally wing it because my memory is so faulty! So, on order is Child of Mine by Ellyn Satter, which I remember as a very good book on feeding.

And, now, pictures of Annika's first feeding!