The Maddy Report: March

Madeline had her 4-month check-up yesterday.  It had been two months since her last visit, which seemed like forever to me.  She seems to be doing well and the doctor was pretty happy.  Here are the details...

•  Height:  She's a little above the median height on the achondroplasia chart and is following her own growth curve well (her measurements over time are all slightly above the median).
• Head circumference:  Again, she's above the median and has a good growth curve.  This is the one that always makes me nervous.  Dr. O again said that sometime in the future she might need to have an ultrasound to check for hydrocephalus, but she made it sound routine and nothing to be alarmed over.
• Weight:  Her weight gain has leveled off.  Her last three measurements didn't show much change and were like this: above the median, right on the median, below the median.  She's still within the normal range, but her weight's not increasing like her height and head circumference.  So Dr. O wants us to come back in a month to check her weight again.  This issue is frustrating for me because I'm already supplementing with formula, and she's STILL not gaining weight like they expect.  I can't force-feed the kid, and it's not like I'm withholding food from her.  Ugh.  Mike pointed out that Ben had a similar pattern and he's fine now.
• Cradle cap:  She's got some, a little on her head and a lot behind her ears of all places.  The doc said it's not harmful right now, but eventually Maddy will start picking at the stuff behind her ears so we should try using dandruff shampoo to get rid of it.
• Spine:  It's fine.  For the past few weeks I was convinced she was getting a hump on her lower back and that it was because I had her elevated too much or I was using the wrong kind of baby equipment.  But it was all in my head.  Dr. O assured me that any curvature that's there is normal.  Phew.
• Sleep:  Dr. O went over the results of the sleep study with us.  Sounds like nothing to be concerned about right now.  She has some apnea that's probably just because she's a baby and it's normal for them to have some irregular breathing.  And we got some saline solution to help with her congestion and that might help her sleep better.  What a relief to hear that sleep apnea's not some big, scary thing right now.
• Developmental milestones:  She's still scoring high in communication.  All the other areas are tied into her motor skills in some way, so the doctor wasn't surprised that she scored lower in those.  I told the doctor that I'm concerned that Maddy's not grabbing objects like toys and playing with them yet, but she said that's to be expected.  I think we're all interested in what happens at the first physical therapy session in tomorrow.  Pretty sure this is a new adventure for everyone involved: us, the doctor, and the physical therapist.

Well, I'm sure there are more updates but I'm not thinking clearly right now since Miss Maddy has been getting me up umpteen times a night this week.  Dr. O said she might be getting up frequently because she's not eating enough during the day.  Because, you know, I starve my baby.  Poor thing has to beg for food.  Speaking of food, the doc said that it's okay to introduce solids if she seems interested in us eating adult food (which she doesn't).  Hard to believe that in the next couple months she'll be on solid food already...time is flying.

Okay, I know most of you are just here for the photos, so here's your reward for reading the blah blah blah (or scrolling past it)...