…well, just a little under 4 months that is.
We went in for our 2nd check-up and this time at the hospital instead of the clinic simply because Eva was due for her BCG jab and here in Singapore, it’s compulsory at BIRTH. Never mind that my daugther is nearly four months behind on it. The hospital’s children center is a hub of kiddie activity – to be expected – and as the minutes went by, more and more parents with newborns or kids were coming in. Thankgoodness I decided to make an early appointment – I was the second one they called the moment the paed arrived.
He’s a nice and friendly chap, and naturally this time, the environment (his room, the center and all) was way bigger than at the clinic. (And so was the bill! *cough*) Eva’s weight and height were taken prior to us meeting him. She weighs in at 5.4 kg and 61 cm now which puts her height at the average percentile and her weight at slightly below average. He’s not fuss about it though because she was a small baby to begin with and by looking at her Michelin tyre thighs plus chin, he tells me that she looks just fine and like how all babies are supposed to look. In short, chubbylicious is in!
He examined her, flipped her on her tummy, sat her up on her bottom and all and pronounced that she’s doing great except for the slightly flat right side of her head. So Eva has to take her naps on the left more often (not that it helps coz she turns on her own…bah). I was told that I can start introducing solids to her by end of this month but can wait till until she’s 6 months old. By then, I *have* to start weaning her already – no questions about it. A leaflet was given on what to start her off – rice first, followed by apples and pears if she shows no reaction to them. Not much too; about a teaspoonful of the stuff first. Milk should still be her main diet though.
Then came the jabs. It’s official – my daughter HATES jabs. It didn’t help that for the BCG, three people had to pin her down, legs, head and all plus it seemed like it took forever! Still I found it amusing that she wailed like crazy even before the needle went in, continued wailing during and after but the moment I picked her up, she stopped. For the 6-in-1, she cried when the jab came but stopped the moment the paed took out a rattle and started shaking it. After that, she slept in the pouch all the way back, and throughout the day. She did develop a mild case of fever though but I fed her some baby panadol (again, she hates the stuff, kept spitting it out and making “I hate it” faces at me) and it went back down and stayed down until later that night when it went up again to 37.6°. After that feed, she went back to sleep for the whole night and by morning, was happily playing in her crib as per her old self again.
Overall, you could say that it went pretty smoothly. 
November 19th, 2009 at 12:07 am
what.. they said you “have” to wean her? uhh.. =/
i asked my hubby about the BCG shot, and apparently it’s not required here in the US. i thought that was interesting.
Mabel Reply:
November 19th, 2009 at 9:55 am
It’s not required in Switzerland too; I guess coz it’s for TB and well, TB is quite rare in developed countries like the US and many European nations. But there are still cases occurring here in Asia so we still administer it – in fact, it’s compulsory for all babies.
Yeah, the paed told me that I “HAVE” to start weaning her by six months coz breastmilk is not good enough anymore, which is true. After six months, babies need to start on semi solids as well as continue on breastmilk.