Good news and a new GI

Yesterday we had our first appointment with our new GI. WE LOVE HIM. He is amazing. There was absolutely NO talk of a feeding tube (enough to give him a standing ovation in my book). He wants to put her on an appetite stimulant because he thinks that will help her weight gain. Also, he was the first doctor to actually ask ME what I thought of her eating and weight gain. I told him that if I didn't have a scale I wouldn't really think a thing about her weight. She seems to be happy and thriving. She's not lethargic or irritable (with the exception of her teething woes) and she's overall a very energetic and happy baby. He mentioned she just may not need as much to grow as other babies do (again, smooches Dr. S!). And the best news of all? She's finally made it to 13 lbs! She was 13 lbs. 2 oz. I never thought I'd see the day.

She also had a feeding therapy appointment at Children's yesterday and our OT is really pleased with her progress. She's started to take bites of rice cereal (granted it's only like 5-7 bites a feeding) and she seems to enjoy feeding time. She was babbling like crazy and smiling. Overall a very good experience. I think it's improved significantly since switching to a rice cereal that doesn't have hidden milk and soy ingredients (read: I hate Gerber products and the hidden crap they stick in their cereal). I also was able to find soy and dairy free teething biscuits (read: I love Healthy Times teething bars). So after all of that she seems to be doing better. Her excema has pretty much disappeared and she doesn't have freak out attacks after taking a bite of cereal. We still struggle to get her to eat enough each day but she's been consistently eating 20 oz or more a day WITHOUT the 1am feeding. A major feat and everyone around here is getting more sleep at night because of it.

The only bummer amidst all this good news is that Lexi is teething again. No rest for the weary. I can see a white bump on her top gums and her drooling and chewing has increased again. Her bottom teeth are probably about half way up. I still am having trouble getting a good picture. Taking a mouth photo of a child with oral aversions is pretty much impossible. Once they are fully in I should easily be able to get a shot when she smiles.