Health Updates - Mom & Baby

Lots of doctor appointments recently - for both S and myself!

Let's start with me since that's a quicker update. Had my 6 week postpartum appointment with Dr. Savasi (Dr. Schnarr's mat leave replacement) on Thursday and she said that I've healed well from both S's birth and my appendectomy. She checked me and couldn't even find the cyst that turned up on the ultrasounds, so said I shouldn't be at all worried about this. A couple stitches remain from the delivery repair work, but she said these should come out shortly. Finally, Chris and I got the green light to resume all "marital activities", if you know wha sayin'. w00t!

S, on the other hand, had a couple appointments with our family doctor recently and will be seeing a pediatrician soon as well. She's been battling some skin issues - lots of little bumps/whiteheads mainly on her face and chest which get "angrier" when she's upset, after a feeding, etc.















Our family doctor diagnosed it as miliaria rubra (or prickly heat rash) and prescribed a 1% hydrocortisone cream to use specifically on her chest where the rash was the worst. The directions were to use it 3x per day, however we only ended up using it a few times to reduce the inflammation and any associated discomfort she might have felt. Cortisone cream is pretty strong so we didn't want to expose our little one to any more if it simply for the aesthetic factor. We suspect she might actually have a combination of prickly heat (when she gets all fired up) and baby acne, the latter of which clears up on its own and isn't bothersome to baby. In any case, it seems to have stabilized so we're not too worried about this anymore.

We're also wondering if she has some mild to moderate digestive issues. Sometimes she cries right after a feed and almost looks like she's in pain - she clenches and the cries are really sharp/desperate. At times it's just about impossible to settle her - she needs to be constantly held & rocked in order to calm down. As new parents inevitably do, we've also been paying close attention to her poop, which has ranged curiously from brown to green in colour, and from mushy to foamy and mucousy in texture. Some of these variants may or may not be normal; for example green poop in a breastfed baby COULD be nothing to worry about, or it could indicate a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance or an allergy/sensitivity. In any case, the doctor asked us to take a stool sample to the lab. (That was an adventure in itself, attempting to scrape the wet poo out of her highly absorbent cloth diaper, and S peeing all over it for good measure.) We will also be taking her to a pediatrician once the results of the poop sample come back. I've been keeping a "food & mood" journal to see if there may be a link between what I'm eating and how S's feeling. It's possible she's sensitive to something like dairy, which is quite common in infants (though thankfully most of them outgrow this.)

Despite some of these concerns, S continues to thrive overall from all standpoints. During Monday's appointment, she weighed in at 9 lbs, 10 oz (just over a pound heavier than her birth weight) and measured 22 inches (a gain of almost 2 inches). She's growing more alert every day, and when she isn't fussin' & mussin' she's a super happy baby, grinning away and starting to find her little voice to make cute little cooing sounds. She can track colourful objects in all directions and she loooves face time, especially with Mom & Dad! Lucy the Tuxedo Cat is even warming up to her too! :)














All in all, S's symptoms are probably nothing to write home about and Chris and I are just being prototypical concerned new parents. But - better to be safe than sorry & all that jazz. I'll post an update following her appointment with the pediatrician.