Good News

All of Veda's tests came back within normal limits, so HOORAY! The pediatrician is satisfied for now, but wants to reevaluate at 21 months. In the meantime, I've got orders to give her Pediasure. Since I'm me, though, I searched out an organic alternative - Pediasmart (which he approved). Drink as directed? Ha! Not our little Veda. But she's very polite about it. She'll take the sippy from me, taste it, and then "absent-mindedly" leave it somewhere around the house. I don't think it's because the stuff tastes bad - she's just never liked ANYTHING except for human milk and water. Seriously, I have the only kids on the planet who spit out juice. Next up, I'll try a smoothie with strawberries and bananas. That goes with chocolate, right?

Several people have asked me what failure to thrive is. Dr. Google has plenty to say about it, most of it scary, of course - that is his way, after all. As our pediatrician put it, it just means that she isn't growing like we would expect her to. And bless the man for telling me that it's no reflection of my parenting. Even though I know that in my head, it still feels good to hear it.

18 (19) Months Well Appointment

First, the stats:

Linus: Weight - 21 lbs., 10 oz. (5th percentile)
          Length - 32 in. (25th percentile)

Veda: Weight - 17 lbs., 10 oz. (Not on chart)
           Length - 29 3/4 in. (5th percentile)

Both babies are meeting all of their developmental milestones on or ahead of time, for which I'm very grateful. Let me say that again - I'm VERY grateful. We got lucky with these two, I tell ya.

Physically, well, we're still deep in Failure to Thrive territory. I think that if you'd never seen another 19 month old, you'd look at Veda and think she's the pinnacle of health. She's energetic and clever as can be. But... she's so tiny. I suspected that at today's visit we'd get some orders for testing, and *sigh*, I was right. As much as I hate to put her through it, I know that it needs to be done. Today she gave a urine specimen at the pediatrician's office. Perhaps you are wondering how such a specimen is obtained from a little one, and the answer is URINE BAG. The nurses strategically tape a bag around her girly bits... and then we wait. And in our case, we waited... and waited... AND waited. Veda was extremely curious about what THAT thing was, but she did NOT have to pee, by golly. We pushed her sippy, washed her hands, and even stood her up in the sink with water running around her legs, but still NOTHING. What finally worked? The been-there-done-that nurse on staff put a warm bag of something (?) next to her bladder under her diaper. Ta-da! I've never been so glad to see a bag of piping hot urine.

The urine sample showed traces of white and red blood cells. That could mean that she has a chronic UTI (which can be a cause of Failure to Thrive), or it could just be some irritation due to the method of collection. The lab is going to do some further testing to decide which one.

We've also got orders to do some lab work at Children's to test for a whole slew of stuff.

75% of me (the calm, rational part of me) thinks that she's just an itty bitty thing, and that's just how she's meant to be. I mean, have you seen me? I'm not exactly robust.

25% of me (the crazy mama bear part of me) is scared. I'll leave it at that.

As for Linus, the pediatrician is slightly concerned that he's dropped fairly significantly in weight from his curve on the chart. I think it's just because he's an a-mile-a-minute toddler. Nonetheless, he shall also be tested for anything that Veda tests positive for, just in case.

Sorry that there aren't any pictures with this post. Alas, my camera is still with the Mr. in Albuquerque. I shall definitely make up for the last month's lack of photos when it returns.Bwahahaha!