Yesterday, Chris and I spent part of our anniversary at the pediatrician’s office for Damon’s nine-month visit. This visit did not include any vaccines, so there were no tears from Damon! Here are his current stats:
Weight – 19 pounds, 7 ounces (50th percentile)
Length – 27.5 inches (25th percentile)
Head – 17 inches (10th percentile)
We discussed several concerns with Dr. Roscoe. First was Damon’s chronic cough. He has been coughing pretty much all winter. It isn’t a constant cough, and it definitely isn’t slowing him down at all. But it’s a very wet and raspy cough. We’ve tried several remedies to no avail. The doctor said Damon’s ears and lungs are clear, so there’s no need to worry about pneumonia or something worse. The cough could be the result of viruses that won’t go away, asthma, allergies or even reflux. Since we can’t really test for any of these things yet, the doctor wants to take a wait-and-see approach. If the cough doesn’t improve, we’ll have to investigate some of these possibilities. Until then, I’m praying that Damon outgrows or simply heals from whatever is messing with his sinuses!
Damon also isn’t sleeping well at night. He usually wakes once every night (although lately he is sleeping through the night a few times each week). We hold and rock him for a little bit, and then he goes back to sleep until morning. At first I attributed this to getting rid of the pacifier back in February. But the sleeping has only slightly improved since then. Also, it’s probably time for us to stop swaddling Damon…although he really loves it, and it seems to calm him down and give him a clue that it’s bedtime. We’re still trying to decide what to do about the swaddle. Once again, the doctor said we should be patient and let Damon outgrow this phase as well.
Finally, Damon isn’t taking to table foods as well as we expected him to. (He still loves baby foods though!) Dr. Roscoe suggested that Damon just needs to get used to our foods’ textures and tastes. We’ll keep trying table foods and give it some more time. By 15 months, Damon should be weaned from the bottle and eating only table foods.
I guess the theme for this doctor’s appointment was patience and waiting for God’s timing to grow Damon at His pace!
Damon and Avery are different in so many ways, including their growth and development. It’s so hard not to compare them. That’s a lesson I’ll need to keep learning throughout motherhood!