G.I. Doc

Lucas had his Pediatric G.I. referral today. The Doc was amazing! I loved him! He told me that Lucas just looked thin to him but he was short (he is 27 inches long today) and he looked healthy... He also told me he has had one other case similar to Lucas... a little girl a year ago. He sent her to the same neurologist I am already seeing in July and they found nothing wrong.... She was just a slow walker (18 months)

To be on the safe side he did take blood and told me there was the smallest chance that Lucas could have two things... one is something with the liver that stunts kid's growth but they all grow out of and is easily treatable and the other is due to the inability to process wheat, barley, and something else but doesn't think that is even remotely the cause... since all of his weight losses happened BEFORE he started solids and b/c he is such a Cheerio addict.

So they drew blood (poor baby!!! two nurses held him down while 1 took 7cc's of blood). The results should be in tomorrow afternoon.

The G.I. Dr also recommended me giving him as much pediasure a day as he can drink... I am going to talk to my Pedi about this tomorrow since I am still Breast Feeding at this point to see how much he suggests. Oh and b/c of him taking blood they put band-aids on each hand... Lucas pulled them off with his teeth before we even walked out the door! Silly baby! He also wants to see us back in two months.

Now for the (possibly) best part... He weighed a little over 16 lbs... and they weighed him butt ass naked... less than a week ago at his feeding evaluation he was under 15 lbs with clothes...
I know there is a small difference in scales so I am wondering which is right. Can he gain a lb in a week? If so he has NEVER EVER EVER gained weight that fast.

Tomorrow we go to his normal pediatrician so I am really excited to see how much his weighs at 11 month checkup (since that is the same scale he has been on since birth.)

In July he also has his neurological appointment and then he starts Physical Therapy & Occupational Therapy as well.

Lucas is napping right now so I will take pictures of him later to post. He is 11 months old today! 1 more month of babyhood to go.......

T-4 (and no it is not another sequel to the Terminator)

I just got off the phone with the very sweet nurse from the G.I. Doctor's office. Most of Lucas blood work is back. The Celiacs stuff (the wheat and glutton intolerance) isn't back and won't be back until Wednesday at the latest. I was told that everything looks normal except his T-4 Thyroid test.

For his age the low end of "Normal" should be 6 and his is 5.2. So they (the GI office) are calling a pediatric endocrinologist to see what he thinks (if they should refer us to him or just repeat the blood work)

So, I guess this could be a possible cause of his slow weight gain. We still don't know anything for sure.

Stick it

Today Lucas had another follow-up appointment with his G.I. Doctor. He is doing great (which we knew) and that he is finally on the curve for his age of the growth chart. He is measuring at 3% for both height and weight (meaning 97% of kids his age are bigger than him.) His doctor is glad that finally his height and weight are proportional. He also gave Lucas three stickers to take home (Elmo, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Scoobie Doo.) The stickers made Lucas so happy he kept shuffling them like cards and looking at each one over and over. He didn't even let go of the stickers when he finally passed out on our way home.

Moving on Up

Today Lucas had his VERY last G.I. appointment. His doctor said he looked wonderful and couldn’t believe what a happy kid he was. Lucas played trucks with his Dr while the Dr showed me how Lucas was continuing to make his way up the growth charts. He is now 24 lbs and 31.5 inches long. He is right around the 25th percentile for both (Last time he was aroung the 3rd.) His head is 19.5. His doctor feels confident that Lucas no longer needs to be drinking pediasure.

I think we are going to wean him off of it a little at a time since we have so much of it left and since the kid loves his “gee” (what he calls his sippy cup of pediasure.) I’m a little nervous about going off the pediasure since he’s been on it for so long and on days when he really didn’t eat anything (usually when he is teething) I know that he is still getting some sort of nutrition. Also now I have to decide what to replace it with. We haven’t even made up our minds if we are going to give him cow’s milk or something else. I don’t even know how much milk (if any) toddlers are supposed to or need to drink.

Way to Grow Lucas

Lucas had his follow up appointment at the G.I. Doc today. He originally saw him at 11 months. The Doctor was impressed by how well Lucas is doing. He said he looks great and to keep doing what we are doing. He also said that Lucas is finally on the "normal" curve for babies his age for height and he projects that about in a month and a half he will place on the curve for weight. Today according to their scale he was 18 lbs butt naked and is 28 3/4 inches long.

Limbo Sucks.

Tomorrow is Lucas' Gastrointerologist appointment... or G.I. for people who don't think that a word should be made of almost the same amount of letters that are in the alphabet. Can you tell I never got advanced from the class spelling bee to the grade wide spelling bee?

I hope the Doctor either tells us that:
1)Oh you are so right... there is nothing wrong with your baby I have never seen a brighter or more adorable kid in my life.
or
2) While Lucas is the brightest and most adorable kid I have ever seen in my life he does have an easily treatable medical issue and _____ IS the cause for his slow weight gain.

I'm so tired of living in limbo. While I am sure there is nothing wrong with it I would love for a Doctor to finally agree with me and then stop looking for possible problems!