Noah had his nine-month-old check-up, eye test, and vaccination on Monday, and boy, was it a depressing session. I know some of you might feel that our PD is overly cautious, but honestly, C and I like that she is so thorough, and takes an active interest in Noah’s development.
As first-time parents, we really don’t know anything about taking care of a baby, and Dr Tay makes the effort to answer all our questions, regardless of how silly they are. We also really appreciate the fact that she is available for informal consultations via email, and we have taken advantage of that on many occasions.
Those of you who read this blog (thank you!) will know that we’ve been struggling to get Noah to eat. We celebrated when he ate some grapes and puffs, and thought we could take our time to get him eating other solids such as puree and porridge. Oops. He hasn’t gained much weight, and has been 7.8kg for the longest time. Dr Tay is concerned as he isn’t getting enough nutrients, so she prescribed a liquid multi-vitamin supplement for him. She also said that we have to keep offering him solids, but if he isn’t eating his puree or porridge by next month, she will have to refer him to a specialist. She noted that he’s an active baby, so he definitely needs more than just breast milk to grow and develop.
The eye test was done by PediaOptix at our PD’s clinic itself, and involved the use of a special machine, ensuring that it was a fast, simple, and non-invasive procedure. The estimated eye degree is taken, and because the difference in degree between his left and right eyes is high, it suggests a risk of him developing Amblyopia (lazy eye) in his right eye. We opted not to seek treatment for it immediately, as there is a chance that his right eye will decide to wake up its idea / eye-deer catch up with his left eye with time, and to get his eyes re-checked in six months time. If it hasn’t improved by then, he might then need to see a specialist and get fitted for an eye patch. The main problem we will have with that is that Noah will keep pulling the patch off on his own, as he will still be too young for us to properly reason with him, and for him to exercise sufficient self-control to wear it.
Noah’s gross motor skills are also quite weak, as he is still unable to crawl. Dr Tay suggested that we try going to a baby gym for that, as the alternative is actually therapy, which she thinks isn’t necessary. I’ve signed up for a trial baby gym class today, so let’s see how that goes! His fine motor skills are average, which means he can pick things up reasonably well, though not with great precision yet. He’s been picking up his puffs from his tray, but doesn’t manage to put them into his mouth. In fact, he doesn’t even try to put food into his mouth! He will fling his hand around until the puff falls out of it instead. Sigh. However, he wants to touch everything and anything these days, and puts everything that ISN’T food into his mouth. His golden mouth opens for milk, water, puffs, and bits of fruit, but once he sees the spoon coming towards him, he clamps his mouth tightly shut, and turns away from it. If the spoon follows in the same direction as his mouth, he arches his back back, to get as far as he possibly can from it. I’ve also tried giving him a puff on a spoon, but he refused to eat it that way. This morning, I used a syringe to feed him some really diluted rice cereal, mixed with my breast milk, but he ended up vomiting it out, together with a bit of the puffs that he ate earlier. My heart aches when he refuses to eat, and I feel as though I’ve somehow failed as a parent.
One positive from the check-up is that his vocal skills are developing normally! He’s been shouting and babbling a lot, so C is convinced that Noah takes after me. It kinda makes sense, since I talk a lot he does look more like me, and my motor skills aren’t exactly very good. I trip over nothing my own feet all the time, and don’t ask me to play Netball or Captain’s Ball, unless you want a good laugh.
We thank God that Noah is such a cheerful baby, and that he has brought so much joy to our lives. We also pray that God gives us wisdom to handle all these issues well, and that He will remain in total control of Noah’s growth. Do pray with us, okay?
Sharing a moment with my baby
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