writing A blog post Instead Of showering...I Regret nothing

We had a family party last night, kind of a late-Christmas-early-New-Year's thing, with my husband's family. One of his aunt's has a baby girl about 18 months old (adorable baby) and said baby has a slew of health problems (so sad) like low muscle tone, extremely low weight gain, reflux, and more.

Naturally, this woman is a concerned parent. She is stressed. And she is a good soul who wishes to spare others the same stresses and concerns that she has.

So, of course, when she's holding my baby, these are her thoughts: is this baby too small for her age? Is she gaining weight at a normal rate? Does she spit up more than usual? Maybe it's acid reflux! That's why she's so small! Tell the mother! Tell the mother!!

(most people, when holding my baby, have thoughts more akin to this: oh my goodness, this baby girl is so adorable! Look at those eyes. Maybe I can get her to smile for me! Smile, baby girl! Smile for me!!)

I understand her concern comes from a good place so I don't take too much of it to heart. But she has this knack for taking small, normal things that could be, possibly, very very small concerns...
...and turns them into life-or-death diganoses that keep me awake at night.

(confession: I exaggerate. Often. I actually slept remarkably well last night.)

I was worried that my baby doesn't show much interest in standing or holding her head up when she's on her tummy. So of course this aunt tells me it's probably an issue with "Floppy Baby Syndrome" because she's so small because I'm not breastfeeding her efficiently, etcetera, etcetera...

So I did my research, cuz that's how I do, and apparently a four month baby not liking tummy time is really common for American babies. Some think it's because we have a phobia of letting our babies sleep on their stomachs (though some report that SIDS is reduced by 30% because of this practice...it's debatable...I still only put her to sleep on her back...I'm a conformist...). Either way, from the articles I've read and the observations I've made, I feel confident when I say:

My baby is normal.

I'm sincerely, genuinely sorry for the problems your baby may be having and the emotional turmoil it is putting you through. I sincerely appreciate your concern for my baby and for me as a first-time mom.
But please relax. You're freakin' me out.

My baby is fine. Developing at her own pace, a different pace from your kids, yes, but she's still perfectly normal.