A few FTm questions...

ajsweeton

So as I lay here waiting for the next feeding I'm dwelling on a few things and I wondered if you ladies could help me out with some answers.

First, we took the babies out for the first time into public today. They are now 4 weeks old and it was my nephews 6th birthday and preschool graduation so we went to dinner and the graduation. At dinner my nephew tells us that his little brother who had been around my babies the night before had a fever last night, he also had a horrible cough, but he has asthma and allergies really bad so I'd written it off as that. We then get to the graduation and it seemed to me like every kid was coughing their heads off. Now I'm freaking out a bit that I have exposed my babies to RSV or some other horrible something and that they're going to get very sick. Please tell me I'm just super paranoid.

Second, how much weight should babies be gaining at this point? We did the whole weigh ourselves with and without babies on our home scale tonight and I know it's not very accurate, but DD and DS are both up almost 2 lbs from their appt 2 weeks ago according to our home scale. Should I be concerned? They're both eating about 3oz at each feeding. Is that too much for a 4 week old?

Thanks for reading the novel!!

chillypenguin

I wouldn't stress too much about them getting sick. I do my best to avoid sick people and obviously don't knowingly expose her, but I can't always stay home and keep her in a bubble (although sometimes I would like to!).

DD2 was 7 lbs 11 oz at birth, and dropped down to 6 lbs 12 oz 4 days later. At the pedi last Thursday (3.5 weeks old) she was up to 10 lbs 3 oz and the doctor said she is gaining weight "beautifully". She is currently eating 3-4 oz a feeding, I just bumped her bottles up to 4 oz yesterday because she seemed hungry all the time. I found a chart on Similac's website that was helpful.

SMM1986

I wouldn't worry about the sickness either, just stay diligent with hand washing and with making sure others wash hands/sanitize before touching.
The weight sounds good, but I'm not too knowledgeable in that area.

Junebug060609

For #1, you sound like a normal mom. It is scary having a sick squish. It is pretty much imposible to live in a bubble (well, for me it is), and sick people are everywhere. It gets worse for exposure to stuff at Daycare and school.

#2, I want to say they are looking for 5oz or more gain a week at this stage...but my memory is foggy.

stephierd81

Our doctor told us to try and limit LO's exposure to close family and friends. No malls, grocery, church etc for 2 months. I know some babies have to go to daycare at 6 weeks. We are personally going to only do outdoor activities with baby and avoid crowds until he is 8 weeks as we were directed.

I'm not positive about the weight gain.