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!
Maggie, I went through this with my kids, too. Try not to worry, although I know that is hard to do. It is more than likely that you just have petite kids. If they are otherwise healthy, eating well, have lots of energy, not acting sick or lethargic, then they are probably just fine.
ReplyDeleteIf I remember correctly, your babies are nursed, right? Breastfed babies grow at a different rate than FF babies do, and tend to be on the leaner side.
My family doctor (who has 5 kids and all 5 were bf) told me that the growth charts used by the majority of peds out there are based on formula fed babies. He said that my kids were/are healthy, just on the small side. I got all this info because a well meaning but uninformed nurse at the WIC office tried to tell me that Gavin was FTT and threatened to call DCS because I 'refused to do anything about it'. I took him over to our family dr's office and I was in tears, I was so upset. But he reassured me that Gavin was just fine, he was healthy, he looked great, he was developing on target, etc....he was just 'constitutionally small'.
But I'm rambling... Anyway, a good ped will know to use the adjusted growth chart for a bf baby and really, as long as the babies look/act ok and seem to otherwise be thriving, they most likely are. Hang in there, and keep me updated as to the results.
Oh, and if it makes you feel any better, Gabrielle is 30 months and only weighs 23 lbs. And she is perfectly healthy and doing just fine; she just happens to be tiny. :-)
Now, if for some reason, I am wrong about the breastfeeding thing, I do apologize for putting my foot in my mouth here. LOL I just never can depend on my memory these days.... ;)
~Michelle
Sorry V has to go through all the extra tests. I'm guessing that the 75% of you is 100% correct and she's just small =) If something is wrong I hope it's something super simple like a UTI.
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