6 Week Check-Up

Our pediatrician likes to see her newborn patients at 1.5 months, 3.5 months, etc. rather than the usual 2, 4, etc. because recent studies show that the earlier kids can be vaccinated for Pertussis (Whopping Cough), the better. This is fine with us because we are traveling at the end of the month, and we wanted Mitchell to have his first round of vacs out of the way.

So, we had our 1.5 month appointment yesterday. Mitch weighs 10 pounds, 1 ounce (25th-50 percentile) and is 22.5 inches long (75th percentile). He is growing well, and has no obvious issues from his surgery last month. We go to Texas Children's on July 14th for our post-op appointment. At that appointment, Mitch will have a few tests done. One will be another VCUG, which is a test that works by showing where his urine goes when he voids. Prior to the surgery, urine was refluxing back into his right kidney. We are hoping that the surgery has corrected the reflux. We'll also have another ultrasound done to look at the size of his kidneys. Our hope is that the right kidney is considerably smaller than the last ultrasound. Finally, he'll meet with the urologist after all the tests to determine what our next step is. The condition that Mitch had, "posterior urethral valves" (PUV) can result in a lot of different conclusions. We're hoping that he's had no lasting kidney damage, and that the only thing we need to do (if anything at all) is continue giving him Amoxicillian once a day as a preventative measure. We are trying to avoid any type of infection that could affect his kidney, which could cause lasting damage.

Mitch was also diagnosed with acid reflux issues, so he's on Zantac. Henry also had reflux, so we are not getting a break on the spit-up this go around. The meds do not affect the actual amount he spits up, but, instead, make his tummy less acidic. We're hoping this helps him, as it's clear from his crying/fussing after he eats that he's not very comfortable. In fact, that is really the only time he cries.

We are gearing up for our first Texas-style 4th of July (Texans really, really love America-- oh, and crafts and Jesus. Not that I have anything against America, crafts, and Jesus, but that's a post for another day). Last year, we were taking in our last few days in the Windy City, and now here we are, almost a year later in the Lone Star State. We're fixin' to do it up big!