My 13 month old son is fairly small for his age, weighing in at just under 17lbs. He has grown approximately 2 inches and gained almost 2lbs since his 6 month check up. It wasn't alarming at first because he has always eaten great and seemed to be proportionate.
He has been fussy and has had issues with sleeping the majority of his little life. So we went in for his year well check and immunization appointment hoping to get a few answers. What we came to find was shocking to us -- our son wasn't even on the charts. I knew he was small, but I guess because he looked and ate normally I wasn't expecting him to be that small. They mentioned the phrase "failure to thrive". Failure to thrive!? What? How can a child who nurses, eats regularly, looks normal, and acts developmentally normal not be thriving?
We didn't know that he had stopped growing entirely. We began to be more worried with each passing moment about his lack of growth. His pediatrician wanted to give us a bit of time to see if we could get him to put on some weight. We had no such luck.
We returned after almost a month feeling defeated and now with some serious worry. His pediatrician ordered some blood work and tested for the usual suspects: kidney function, liver function, immune system, thyroid, celiac etc.
The blood draw was a horrible experience. Not because the phlebotomists were horrible, but because my son thrashed and screamed with pain, sadness, and confusion. His blood draw required three tries and two different people to get an adequate amount of blood for testing. They had to poke and re-poke, digging around in his little arm to find his vein. Once that was all over the ladies gave us space and let me hold him and nurse him.
We waited not so patiently for the results and when they finally came we got some non-news. We were grateful that most of the tests came back negative, but we were still uneasy about the lack of a definitive answer. We were told that his amino acids were off and that further testing would be beneficial to check for, and hopefully rule out, a genetic disorder.
Cue the deja vu!
We were glad to have my in-laws with us this time. They were so sweet to come and support our little guy. Fortunately this time around they needed less blood. But, unfortunately this time proved to be a bit more difficult.
The first set of phlebotomists were unable to get any blood and eventually gave up after my son bit one of them. The second set of phlebotomists both tried and finally one of them who was the third and final person to try got it! Once again my husband and I had to hold our son down and watch him as he screamed and thrashed around. Huge tears ran down his face the entire time. Thankfully it seemed slightly less painful once they actually got the blood going. They retrieved the single vile of blood and we were able to get going.
Currently we are waiting for the blood tests to come back and don't expect any news for a week or two. Even though we would like answers we are waiting and hoping for negative results.
Until then we are still trying to fatten him up though it seems pointless and unsuccessful.
Do you have any favorite snacks or meals that are extra nutrient filled and or fattening? We would love to hear your ideas!
Thanks so much!
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I'm sorry Kari. I hope they can find you some answers soom. A little helpful tidbit I got from someone who has had two very sick babies; as a mom, never be the one who holds your child down for testing that will be painful for your baby. Let your arms and face be a refuge from all that.
ReplyDeleteAs far as helping to plump your little guy up, ice cream is pretty good at that. Yogurt would be a close second. Do you have him on multivitamins?
Keep us posted on the progress and we'll keep you in our prayers.
Thanks Karen :D I can see that being painful for him and my husband and I didn't want to have to hold him down. They asked us to hold him down for them :( I think I need him to be getting this kind of thing done by someone with experience with pediatrics. He eats yogurt pretty much everyday and ice cream every now and again. :) Recently we've been giving him a lot of cream mixed into his food and drinks. We haven't tried vitamins but that is something I can and will talk to his doctor about. I will definitely keep everyone posted! I appreciate the loving comments.
ReplyDeleteKari- I dont have any suggestions for food besides what Karen posted. I would like to say- the holding down part of shots/blood draw is horrible as a parent. Someone once told me to try and hold them during whatever shot- with them facing you, so the legs are off to the side. But this proved very hard to do as Warren got older and more wiggly. Once your guy is older- try to explain before you go to the Dr what happens there. We are pretty straight forward with Warren- we don't give fake body part names, tell him we are going for ice cream(instead of dr), etc. We explain why stuff is the way it is as simply as possible. It helps a little because even though he hates shots, he understands we didn't lie to him about what was going to happen and generally he is a little mentally prepared. There was one time that I didn't know shots were coming and so I didn't tell him that part. I just explained we were going in for a normal check up to be ready for the move. We were both surprised when the Dr told us that Warren had 3 shots he had to get in order to be up to date for the move. I ended up having to hold Warren down because he was adamant that he wasn't getting them. It was hard, harder then when i witnessed his circumsion. But afterward he was a trooper and snuggled into me while we talked about the importance of the shots. The funny part was when he walked around "injured" the next day, until he found out riding his bike would help his legs feel better. Then he sped back up to normal. :)
ReplyDeleteI guess what I mean to say is- do what you can for you guys, remember everybody develops differently (because we are all different). And always be there to support and acknowledge those tears, because then he knows he can work through them.
Amanda, Thank you!! Thank you so much for sharing your experience and I love your thoughts on this subject. You are an awesome mom! <3
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