Shabbos Kodesh

A gute voch to all of our dear friends. May this week bring you only success and happiness.

This Shabbos Mendele went with his parents to his aunt and uncle's house. There he made many instant friends. Although he spent most of the day sleeping - it was Shabbos after all - he spent the rest of the day eating!

Since Mendele came home his doctor - Dr. Rosen - has been watching his weight carefully. Mendele was born at an even seven pounds and over his stay at the hospital (he took a while to recover from a complicated birth) he gained twelve ounces. However when we brought him in to get weighed two weeks later he had lost a couple ounces of weight!

The doctor put us on a rigorous feeding schedule and before long Mendele was back to 7.12. by the next week he was up to 7.14, this past Tuesday he made it to eight pounds!

While Dr. Rosen knows that Mendele is gaining he is still concerned, because the rate at which he is gaining is very slow - oprx. half an ounce a day.

We got worried too (which is the suggested path when the doctor is worried). So we called our family's lactation specialist and she calmed our young hearts saying (and I'll break it down for you)

a. Formula fed babies grow at a rate of 1 ounce per day. Breast-fed babies grow at a rate of 1/2 an ounce per day. This means that Mendele's growth rate is normal B"H!

b. There s nothing you can do to make your milk stronger. By the same token, even if a mother lived on potato chips and coke, as long as there is milk the baby would still get the nutrients it needs. The healthy eating that doctors suggest is meant to keep the mommy healthier!

So after some stuff has been said and done - Mendele is good and healthy - boruch Hashem!!