Yesterday was Ellen’s two month check up. I wanted to write about it right away, but I  was prevented by a sad baby. She got 4 vaccines yesterday and was feverish and grumpy, so mama held her. All afternoon, and all evening. 

You gotta do what you gotta do! And baby needed me, so there I was. *hearteyes*

The report from the doctor was mostly good. Ellen is healthy in every way, except for a yeast infection in her neck folds, since they never get any air. Yuck!

So I acquired some antifungal cream for her neck, along with instructions about how to tell when it is yeast vs. no big deal. When it is no big deal, we are supposed to apply regular diaper cream instead of the antifungal cream to prevent irritation, bathe her regularly  (which we already do), and keep the folds dry as much as possible.

Keeping them dry is tricky since she spits up and sweats, but we have purchased some cute bibs to aid us with the cause. 

Doc also advised that we keep an eye on her other folds, since they could easily meet the same fate.

All this talk about folds… well, that means, of course, that Ellen is still very fat! She is no longer perfectly proportionate, with her weight increasing faster than her height, but doc said she isn’t worried about Ellen’s weight (yet. She did say “yet”.).

Ellen is tipping the scales at 16 lbs 4.5 oz, easily off the charts (and cruising into 9 month size clothes). She is also two feet tall, putting her in the 97th percentile. Her head is 80th percentile. So she’s big, big, big!

When doc first walked in, she asked how Ellen was eating. Then, before I could answer, she looked at Ellen and said, “oh!”. So I guess her question was answered!

The doctor also said that the next few months are really important for the shape of the head, and we have to be extra careful with Ellen because of her size. There are, apparently, two main reasons.

1) The sheer weight of Ellen’s head will make flat spots worse with less time than a smaller baby.

2) More weight means it is more work to lift the head, so she will need extra strong muscles to keep up with milestones like sitting up and rolling over.

The plan? Lots of tummy time to build those muscles. And lots of holding her upright and on her side to avoid pressure on the back of the skull. Basically, keep her off her back, and make her use her neck.

However, she has to sleep on her back. That’s the catch. The recommendation nowadays is that all babies should sleep on their backs to prevent SIDS. I’m obviously totally on board for that! But that’s why doc wants us to be so diligent about other positions during the day.

I don’t think we need to worry as much as the doctor said, though, because I caught Ellen sleeping with her head to the side all night last night!

Not sure if you can see it, but there’s evidence in the picture below. 

So the summary of the visit is that Ellen is a badass, and she is huge. And being huge comes with some things to think about. But she is a baby goddess and I am so proud of her.