2 Month Checkup

We took Aaron in for his 2 month checkup this morning. He weighed in at 14 lbs and was 24" long. The doctor said this put him in the 90th percentile for height and 90-95th percentile for weight. But she said this doesn't mean that he will necessarily be tall since babies grow at varying rates. By 18 months, though, Aaron will settle into a growth pattern and at that point, she said you can usually predict if he will be short or tall. Since Thom is 6' (slightly taller than average for men) and I'm 5'2" (shorter than average for women), we might expect Aaron to be somewhere in the middle.

The doctor confirmed that the new rash we've seen on Aaron's arms the last week is eczema. We were told to start putting some fragrance free, non-comedogenic lotion on him (Cetaphil and Eucerin were two she recommended). Rather than drying him completely after his baths (as I had been doing), we are supposed to slather him up with lotion while his skin is still damp to help seal in some of the moisture.

Aaron also got his first immunizations today. 2 shots in each leg, and one oral dose of a rotavirus vaccine. (Rotavirus causes severe diarrhea and vomiting in small children and can lead to hospitalization for dehydration.) The shots he got were for Polio, Hepatitis B, Hib (Haemophilus influenza type b), DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (Whooping Cough)) and pneumococcal disease (the leading cause of bacterial meningitis in the US). We gave him some infant Tylonol after his exam and about 10-15 minutes before the nurse gave him his shots. Thom held him during the shots, which went surprisingly quick. I nursed him as soon as the shots were done and he was already starting to calm down before we got started.

I expected the experience to be worse, but he seemed to take it pretty well. He fell asleep on the way home and after an extensive diaper change, he is now napping in his crib. Hopefully he doesn't have any delayed reactions.