8 weeks

Xander had his 8 week appointment this week. I had some concerns, mainly his prolific spitting up (including the bit of bright green I saw when he spit up all over my friend's shirt) and his continued fussiness.

The good news is he's gaining weight. He is now above average in both height and weight (he's 12 lbs., 2 oz.) which is great. But I can't help attributing all his issues to allergy - like the constant fussiness, the rash on his chest, back and arms, and did I mention the spit up?

I knew he was supposed to get his first vaccines. We passed on hepatitis B when he was born because, and I know I'm going out on a limb here, I'm pretty sure he's not going to be using intravenous (or is it intervenous?) drugs or having unprotected sex any time soon. But we were due to get Dtap, rotavirus, polio, pneumococcal conjugate, prevnar and hib (the latter three being some kind of meningitis thing, I think).

Vaccination is a touchy, touchy issue. Now these are just my own opinions, but I'm not convinced vaccinations cause autism, but possibly trigger them in a child who is predispositioned. I also am a little hostile about people who choose not to vaccinate their kids, because they're relying on the rest of us to get OUR kids vaccinated to keep their kids safe.

Still, Xander is just so, well, little. And it seemed like an awful lot of crap to be putting in a tiny baby. Especially one who is clearly in some sort of discomfort. After much hemming and hawing, I decided to get the pneumococcal one and rota (since rota is oral. The pediatrician was very surprised to hear my first two kids were not vaccination for rota and never had it.).

He ended up waking up the next day with a fever and has been fussy since, but that's kinda him. We also switched him to prevacid from xantac to see if that helps him.

I also have given up wheat and soy to go along with the dairy I'd already eliminated from my diet when he was born. The good news is this justifies my eating my body weight in Lay's potato chips. The bad news is that's about all I'm eating since pretty much everything has wheat, soy or dairy in it.

I know it will all be worth it if I can continue nursing Xander and if he feels better. But man it makes me cranky. I worry about every bite I consume, wondering if it will cause my little guy pain.

I have been through this before with the first two kids. I was hoping the third time would be a charm. Every child is supposed to be different, right? It doesn't seem that way with my three. Which is very sad. And frustrating.

Thankfully Xander does has his moments where he is calm. And then he smiles at me, his grin lighting his face and crinkling his eyes.

It's worth it, I remind myself. It's worth it.