| 01.20.2005 | henry growing nicely
We had our weekly doctor visit on Monday checking on Henry's growth. We were all pleasantly surprised to find that he'd gained a whopping 13 ounces in just one week! (The average is 0.5 - 1 ounce per week.)
He was slow in gaining the first two visits and from Dr. Dyer's tone we expected that if he didn't perk up she would be recommending some supplemental feedings.
She was really pleased this visit, though, with everything from his color (no more jaundice) to level of alertness to weight.
I think her exact comment was, "He's just like a newborn now." (She had commented several times that since he was a premie we should expect that he'd just continue to sleep until his original due date since he still needd "time to cook.")
We had definitely noticed the change this week ourselves, with his periods of alertness growing longer and more frequent. It was nice, though, to hear our own assessment echoed by a real doctor.
I took a few minutes last night to do the proper geeky thing and charted both his actual weight gain over the past four weeks and also project forward based on current trends. (Afterall, what else do you do at 1 AM when you're up for a feeding?)
My R^2 value is pretty poor (0.95) so I think this analysis may be flawed. Or you could use common sense and realize that a 100 pound baby at six months is a little on the extreme side. (A woman did give birth to a 16-pounder in Brazil today, though!)