3V0032.01 One month checkup 2/23/78; 1;0

Today was Peggy’s first post-natal examination. At one month, she weighs 11 lbs, 9 oz. (having left the hospital at 8,3). The two “stork bites” on her eye lids may actually be birth marks, in which case we should assume they will remain for several years. She is 22 inches long. Cranial circumference is 15 inches. Doctor Morse said we should not expect her to focus well or recognize anything until she is 6 to 8 weeks old (this in response to my remark that she always appears to be looking over a person’s shoulder). Her nightly fussing he described as her first period of coming “awake”, his positions being that babies sleep most of the time and only gradually become conscious in the sense we are when awake. He said her weight gain is positive proof that she is not colicky or ill. The first infant reaction to sickness is loss of appetite — of which she shows none. She breathes well, has a heart and a well formed pelvis. She appears to be in great shape.

His advice about the crying was to amuse her if we chose to do so, not to worry about it, perhaps to place here where there is a little noise (radio or TV) or where there are people moving about frequently — such as in the kitchen — in the kind of infant seat we have already.

Comparing her weight with the other children, Gretchen noted that at one month Miriam weighed 10,14 and Robby 11,7. Peggy, being born near her calculated due date, is, in effect, being measured a week earlier than they were (both were born about a week after the calculated due date), so her gross weight seems quite in line with Miriam’s.

Gretchen: a note about fussing – 4/23/78
By the time of the visit to the doctor, we had realized this was not a hunger problem. We simply resigned ourselves to putting up with the problem as best we could, knowing that she would go to bed after the final feeding around 11, and hoping that by three months it would be over. One night, right before her ten-week post natal checkup, I fed her around 7:30 pm and 8:30 she was sleepy, so I put her down and to my pleased surprise she slept right through until 7:30 the next morning. Since then, she has pretty well given up the last evening feeding and gone to bed for the night around 9 pm, give or take 30 minutes.

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