Nolan Weighs In

Nolan had a couple of appointments on Wednesday; the results of both were very encouraging to us.

The first was with our family practitioner, Dr. Buhl. At this appointment we were excited to discover that Nolan weighed an even SIX POUNDS!!! This means that he has doubled his birth weight in approximately five weeks which seemed to make 3:00am feedings worth it :). Dr. Buhl also remarked that he seemed more alert and aware of his surroundings than a term baby of his age would normally be. He's been "out" for over five weeks so this would make sense. Nurse Kate gave Nolan his second Hepatitis B vaccine and he only cried for a few seconds after the injection. It's more proof to me that he is a tough little bugger considering all he's been through!

The second appointment was with the nutritionist and Kolleen's lactation consultant at Legacy Emanuel Hospital. Both seemed quite impressed by Nolan's development and told us that we were doing exactly what we needed to be doing to pack the pounds on our baby boy. Nolan's growth has put him in the 10th percentile for his head circumference and about in the 3rd percentile for his weight and length. We will continued to supplement breast feeding with fortified bottle feeding through his first year.

The lactation consultant, Margi, is wonderful and has really helped Kolleen through some breast feeding difficulties. She provided some valuable pointers and great encouragement to Kolleen that already seems to be paying off. Nolan has always fed very leisurely at breast but Margi and Dr. Buhl both suggested that his behavior needed to be modified. Being on Mom's breast is to be a dining experience not a lounging experience. In the past couple of days he seems to be more alert and more participatory in his feedings.

(Sorry if there's more information than you were counting. I'm trying not to be too obnoxious as a father but it's hard sometimes. It's hard not to now that I'm so enamoured with Nolan, the little cutie!)

Love to all,
Dave