9 Months old!!

On Tuesday Eric turned 9 months old, and he had his 9 month checkup at the doctor's office.  I wasn't looking forward to it, but it went fine.  I was expecting a vaccine or something because I was given an appointment for the nurses' checkup room, where vaccines are usually given.  It turns out, though, that they made a mistake when they gave me the appointment.  So, Eric only really had to be weighed, measured, and looked at.
Eric weighed 7.85 kg, and measured 70cm tall.  So, he has now gone up a percentile group in weight.  The doctor seemed happy about that.  He is now near the line of kids at the 15 percentile for both his height and his weight.  So, he is still on the light side for his age, but is now nearer the average.

There are several reasons for the change, I think.  First of all, Eric is no longer spitting up almost everything he eats and drinks.  That, in itself, makes a huge difference.  Second, he has been getting in better naps lately.  So, he isn't using so many of his calories at all times of the day anymore.  The most important reason, though, is that the other kids' growth rate has been slowing down over the last 3 months.  If you see the weight curve, it is very steep up until 6 months, and then starts to level off.  Eric, though, has been steadily increasing in weight.  He actually follows a line of growth, if you chart his various weights, rather than a curve.  At no point has he really grown more or less quickly, but has instead grown pretty steadily.  I assume, though, that that will change soon, and he will stop gaining at the same rate soon.
Up until now, Eric has been proportionally tall for his height, but now he is near the same percentile with height and weight, meaning, I guess, that he should be proportioned pretty well.  I think he looks good, of course.

The morning before the appointment, I noticed something that I'd never noticed before.  Eric has a small patch of less pigmented skin on the back of one of his legs, behind his knee.  I was surprised not to have noticed it before, but I guess it is in a not-so-prominent place.  It's probably only noticeable, too, now that he's getting a little bit tan.  At least I saw it before the appointment, so I was able to point it out to the doctor.  I asked if it could be vitiligo, and she seemed surprised, and asked if we had a history of it in the family.  I don't think so, but who knows.  Anyways, she decided to set up a consult for dermatology to have it looked at, and I was able to get an appointment for the end of August.  (Trust me, only a two month wait for a consult is very good.  I waited several months for the consult for my sore wrists).
At the appointment, we also talked about what Eric had been eating, and what I should be starting to give him.  I have to admit that I pay very little attention to what his doctor has to say about most things.  I find that many doctors here are a little outdated with their advice, so I research everything myself.  I think part of the problem is that the classes they take themselves are a bit behind the times.  (I'm basing this on my experience with the dentistry licensing exams)  I don't think that they have any sort of mandated continuing education either, so most of their advice is based on whatever was accepted at the time they studied.  I don't like to generalize, though, and this is really only my opinion, which may be wrong.

Anyways, I told her most of the things that Eric was eating, and didn't tell her about certain things that he had tried which she didn't think he should try yet.  One of those things was peaches.  I have looked everywhere to find why they don't want babies here to try peaches until after one year of age, but can't find any basis for it.  Most places I've found suggest peaches as one of the first foods for babies.  Even if I could find that it was potentially allergenic, the new studies since 2008 seem to support the idea that delaying foods, especially if you don't have allergies to those foods in your family, really has no effect on whether your baby will develop an allergy to those foods.  To be safe, though, I have waited to give Eric the most allergenic foods like egg whites, strawberries and nuts.
So, when she asked me about if he had tried fish yet, I was tempted to say no, but decided to tell the truth.  She told me that even though the paperwork that she gave me said that you can start giving fish at 9 months, that I should wait until 10 months to actually do it.  He's already eaten it without any problems, so I don't understand waiting to give him more.  The only problem is that I'm worried about what would happen if he were to have any allergic reaction to anything that she told me not to give him.  So, now I don't know whether or not to give him the fish that I have prepared for him waiting in the freezer, despite not being in agreement with the reasoning behind not doing it.  I find it very frustrating.

The doctor then asked me if I was planning on giving Eric the Prevnar vaccine.  I looked at her with a bit of a blank stare, because, up until now, all vaccines and treatments have been given without any questioning or options.  It turns out, though, that this vaccine is on the optional schedule, and, therefore, is also charged separately.  I asked if it was going to be given today, or if I had time to research it, and she told me that he would get the first dose at 12 months if I decide to give it to him.  She told me that she tells people ahead of time so that they can be prepared because the vaccines can be rather costly.  So, I asked about the cost, and she said that for this vaccine, the series would cost around 400 Euros (over $500).  She said that with so many different optional vaccines, some families have to decide which ones are their priorities to be able to afford the ones they feel most important.  I told her that I wanted to research the vaccine, which she seemed to think reasonable since she said that all vaccines have their risks, and that I would let her know.  She told me to make an appointment for the nurses for his 12 month appointment if I decide to give it to him, and to make an appointment directly with her if not.  I guess that means that he isn't scheduled for any other vaccines at that appointment.

I haven't had a chance to do a lot of research on the vaccine yet, but from what I have read, so far, I've seen some very conflicting ideas about it.  It seems that it is a vaccine that is supposed to give antibodies for 7 strains of pneumococcal bacteria (out of over 90 that exist).  These bacteria are responsible for pneumococcal diseases, which can include "inflammation of the brain, blood infections and pneumonia."  It seems, though, from what I've read, that the chance of an infant contracting one of these is about 0.15%.  So, to make the vaccine more marketable, it has also been said to lower the risk of ear infections, and in some places I even saw it being called the vaccine for ear infections.  It does slightly lower that risk by about 7-9% (depending where you read), but it is markedly less than the amount lowered by breastfeeding, eliminating smoking in the house, washing hands, and keeping the child out of large child care centers.  That said, that isn't the main target of the vaccine, and the main target seems to be something very low risk.

Considering that some of these diseases can be very serious, though, it would make sense to try to prevent them, if possible, if the benefit outweighs the risks.  That is what I'm really trying to determine.  One thing I find interesting is that in the US, this vaccine is given starting at 2 months of age.  Here, though, they don't give it until the 12 month appointment.  From what I've read, the risk of the diseases targeted already falls by 50% between 1 and 2 years of age, so it seems strange to me to start the vaccination series so late.  Another thing I've read is that, especially the earlier form of this vaccine, having been created in the US is really targeting strains of the bacteria that are prevalent there, and the strains more prevalent here in Spain were not included.  The new version, also created in the US, was supposed to try to help fix that, but I haven't found information about if it really has or not.  The other thing I've found is that earlier forms of this vaccine were said likely to increase the risk of insulin dependent diabetes, and that the newer (Prevnar 13) vaccine, which is more potent, is said to maybe have an even greater rise in diabetes risk.

So, to sum up what I've read so far, the vaccine, perhaps the earlier one?, lowers the chance of pneumococcal diseases by 40% (from 11.8 to 7.2 per 100,000 live births).  So, I guess it potentially prevents about 4 in 100,000 diseases.  Eric should have less risk than most children of getting one of these diseases because he is breastfed, nobody smokes in his house, and he doesn't (usually) go to a large child care center.  On the other hand, the older version of the disease was found to be associated with a higher risk of getting diabetes.  It is also likely to lower the efficacy of other vaccines. Then, of course, there are other potential side effects which are all very unlikely, but so is what this vaccine is targeting in the first place.  It seems that there isn't a lot of testing available on the vaccine, so it makes it much harder to know what the side effects are, and makes it much harder to make a decision.

So, the money for the vaccine, in our case, is the least of my concerns.  I want to do what is best, and have found may places that seem to support the idea that this particular vaccine's risks outweigh the benefits.  If I were sure that I wanted to give him this particular vaccine, spending the 400 Euros wouldn't be the problem.   I'd prefer not spending so much, though, on something that may be more likely to harm him than help him, though it is very unlikely that it will really do either.  The most likely scenario would be that I would give or not give the vaccine, and life would continue as normal, without ever hearing about this again in either case.
The rest of the appointment was pretty uneventful.  The doctor asked me if I took Eric to the beach because he is getting a little tan.  I said that I hadn't, so she said that I must live outside of the main part of town.  I admitted that I did, but that I do try to take precautions, and I make sure that Eric doesn't get burned.  I also told her that his skin seems to be like mine in the sense that he develops color very quickly, and doesn't easily burn.  I still am careful about how long and when he is in the sun, though, because I don't want to take any unnecessary risks, knowing that burning your skin can be dangerous.  I do feel it is important for him to spend time in the sun, though. 

The other doctor (the one I liked) had told me how important it was to get Eric outside in the sun for a little while each day to help maintain optimal vitamin D levels.  She said that the magazines often mistakenly tell you to keep your baby out of the sun, and that you should heavily cover them with sunscreen if he does ever go outside, but that this prevents the baby from getting the necessary vitamin D.  She said that they are now forced to give vitamin D to babies because most babies rarely get outside, and that their mothers don't get the sun exposure they need either, so their breast milk is also deficient.  That was not the first place I had heard this, and after having done a bit of research myself, I tend to agree with her.  Vitamin D seems to be given to kids to help with bone development, but is really important for a lot of things that aren't always mentioned, like helping prevent cancer.  It also seems likely to help prevent catching a cold or the flu.  Up until now, Eric really has never been sick.  Yes, he has had a little bit of a cold for a couple of days a few times, but it was never anything serious that really required suctioning out his nose, nor keeping him at home.  He hasn't had a fever ever either.  Breastfeeding may be partly responsible for him being so healthy, but I think that having had him out in the sun, maintaining vitamin D levels, couldn't have hurt him either.  Ever since I've been doing it myself, I've found I also have been a lot healthier.

Anyways, I felt like I was being questioned once again, but all she really said was to be careful with the sun.  I get the feeling throughout every visit, though, that we really don't like each other very much, and have very distinct views on what is best.  I still feel like maybe I should have switched doctors back at the time when I had the chance to, and I could have had a doctor who seems to think more like me and who I got along with better.  While his doctor is civil and nice enough in the visits, I always feel like it's more out of obligation, and that she's actually being judgmental, but trying to hide it, throughout the appointment.  Maybe I'm reading too much into it.  On the other hand, I feel the same way about her, so I guess it's only fair.

After leaving the appointment, I went to the pharmacy to look for some sunscreen for Eric.  I had planned on doing it anyways, because I want to be able to swim with Eric in the afternoon sometimes, and it wasn't because I was motivated by what the doctor had said.  The other day I had looked several places for a more natural, mineral based sun block for him, but wasn't able to find one.
I got to the pharmacy, and saw many types of sunscreen for kids.  I had no idea what to choose, though, so I decided to head to the line, and ask one of the girls there which one I should choose for Eric.  The girl I spoke to told me that for kids under 2 years old you shouldn't use a chemical sunscreen, but should use a barrier-type mineral sun block.  That's what I had been looking for in the first place.  So, she handed me one, which I bought, and we headed home.

I don't know what it is about reaching the 21st each month, but it seems like every time he hits the new month point, he seems to act like he's that whole month older.  I may be exaggerating a bit, but in the last few days he has gotten so much stronger, and is able to do so much more than he was able to do last week.  After coming home from the 9 month appointment, I sat Eric next to me while I was on the couch checking my email, and Eric kept pulling himself up to standing, falling down, and then pulling himself back up again.  At times he was laughing about doing it, at times he was crying, probably out of exhaustion of doing something so often that he had only been able to do a couple of times before today.

That wasn't the only thing he was doing, though.  Up until now he has started to be able to move around a little bit on the floor to get himself around, but now he can do it so much more quickly!  I really have to keep my eye on him now because he gets from one end of the room to the other much more quickly than what I'm used to, and there are still things that I haven't been able to fully babyproof (and I'm not sure that it's even possible) in our living room.  He moves from trying to pull off the tablecloths (and everything on the table with it), pulling everything off the shelves, opening furniture doors...  He's already destroyed one of my DVD's after pulling the box off a shelf, opening the box, and pushing down on the disc while sliding it on the floor, heavily scratching it.  Over the next few days I'll have to take a better look at trying to fix this room to be a little more Eric-proof.

I've been keeping busy with other projects lately, though.  Mauri was looking through his closet and planning on bringing some of his old t-shirts to the boat to use for work shirts or rags, and I rescued a few for several projects.  One of my projects will be appreciated by my mom, I'm sure.  I have a lot of t-shirts that I never ever wear, but that I'm too sentimentally attached to to get rid of.  So I found the idea of making a t-shirt quilt online.  I actually had already thought about doing the same type project with Eric's clothes if we aren't going to have any more little Eric's (which Mauri seems pretty sure we won't, but I haven't started cutting up the clothes yet, just in case).  I think I have a lot of my favorites in the US still, though, so I may wait to put it all together until my next visit.  For now, I have cut out the parts of the shirts that I want to use in the quilt, and they now take up much less space.

I couldn't let myself throw away the rest of the fabric, though, so I decided to look for fun projects with t-shirt material.  I got the idea to make Eric some little pants or shorts, finding the idea on a website, and it turned out to be fun and really easy.  I decided to take things one step further and make him lightweight overalls from one of my old t-shirts.  I loved the fabric, and really liked the t-shirt, but it just didn't look very good on me.  So I saved the Sylvester Six Flags appliqué for my quilt, and used the rest of the fabric for Eric's summer overalls.  I couldn't find any simple patterns, so I winged it, and used the pants idea and added a front panel and straps. I have never made a buttonhole in my life, and was too lazy to look up how, so my buttonholes weren't exactly beautiful, but they are functional.  :)  I saw afterwards that my machine has a special foot for buttonholes, so I guess I'll eventually have to read how that works.

I had to stop working on all of my projects because Eric woke up from his nap, and kept coming over and pushing on the pedal of my sewing machine.  I did still manage to make one last thing, a "swimsuit cover-up" from one of Mauri's old t-shirts, which I will likely use more as pajamas or for lounging around the house.  Recycling (aka. upcycling) old t-shirts is really a lot of fun, so I'm sure I'll be making us, and especially Eric, lots of fun new things in the future. 

Yesterday I brought Eric to the nursery school to eat his breakfast, and he showed off his new super cool overalls, and played with some of the toys there.  He especially liked standing by the bar in the babies' room, which is next to a mirror.  So, I'll put up some of those pics.
For now I have lots of other things that need to be done.  The peaches and plums are starting to go bad on the tree, so today I think I'll work on freezing up puree for Eric and slices for us for later in the year when these fruits aren't available.  There are also a lot of other things that I want to tell you about, but since this is getting long, and I want to post this ASAP, I think I'll save it for later.