first checkup

Benjamin at 1 week


Asleep on the exam table


Home from doc's.

Today Benjamin is 7 pounds 12 ounces, and the doctor is very pleased with his weight gain, which means nursing is going well and we're allowed to let him sleep until he's hungry. (More rest for maman!)

7-12 puts him 2 ounces shy of his birth weight. On Sunday, the nurse weighed him at 7 pounds 7 ounces, so that's 5 ounces gained in 4 days -- or possibly only 1 ounce per day since he peed 3 times (!) while we were in the exam room and easily gave up an ounce.

Fortunately, maman was smart enough to have packed plenty of diapers. Papa would probably have brought only 1. Maman loves the diaper bag we got at Babies R Us with a gift certificate from little George's mom and dad.

The kind of mundane detail that I now get excited about is that we're allowed to use a pacifier. I'd already been resorting to one when Benjamin would be otherwise inconsolable, but maman was concerned about nipple confusion and the general warning not to use pacifiers until nursing is going well. Nursing is apparently going quite well, so we may pacify without worry. For now.