The "Perfect" Baby?? (Poll Result)

Kole had a regular little checkup at the hospital, for jaundice and to check his weight. He weighed in at 7 pounds, 8 ounces, which is what he weighed at discharge on Friday. That's 8% below his birth weight and considered normal. They don't get concerned until it gets to 10%. For the jaundice test, the Lactacianist has this little electric contraption that looks like one of those laser thermometers that reads temperature off heat from the forehead. But, this thing somehow checks for jaundice. She does three readings and takes the average, and as she's doing this she says every kid is at least a 1, but 2-3 is still normal. They don't get concerned until a baby is about a 5. About this time, the people with the baby with the next appointment walk up a little early - their little girl looks like it's been left in a tanning bed too long. I'm thinking to myself - Geez, is that baby a 2, 4, 6, or 8? But, the doctor does Kole's reading ... 0 ... 0 ... 0. Three zeros. She actually had an open-mouth look of surprise. She said - That just doesn't happen anymore, I can't remember the last time we had a baby here come in at zero!
She then did three more test with the same 0-10 scale, with a lower number being better. Kole scored a big Zero, Zero, Zero. The doctor was almost beside herself - "This is just a perfect baby! We don't get too many like this!" I watched her as she said this, as she's probably learned just to say all the right things to new parents. But, she had arched eyebrows and shook her head side to side as she wrote his scores down and seemed as sincere as a doctor can. No baby-voice or exaggerated enthusiasm, just matter-of-fact monotone. Knowing that it will be a while before anyone tries telling us the kid is ugly or not up to snuff about one thing or another, knowing everyone will say all the right things for quite some time, it is at least comforting to know that he is in good health and he's at least starting out a little better than the average kid out there. I stare upwards and do a lot of thanking lately, and this will top my next list of thanks.
So, that' s all the prodding that will be done by doctors to Kole for a little while. Tomorrow we'll schedule his first office visit with his pediatrician, Dr. Kenneth Carlson in Arlington. Until then, Kathy's milk has arrived, and Kole should be happily feeding like a madman. He's quite a sight when he's sucking away, little cheeks going everywhere, while his eyes get wide as he stares at his mama. Even when it's 3:00 in the morning, I'd rather watch him do that then to try to roll over and sneak in a few Zs.

As for the little Poll questions - all day Friday, his first full day home, Kole went through 5 diapers. He may now be starting the time where he goes through 10-plus a day, but just 5 in the 24-hour span that was June 20.