Whit Update

I sat on the floor, getting Whit down to his diaper in a GI doctor appointment last Friday… ready to weigh him. He was holding two little Thomas the Train engines, and had been most content playing with them in the waiting room. He usually only has one, and Chap the other…. But not today… he had them both! The nurse told me he needed a dry diaper and no trains! I had somewhat grown out of the “Oh, goodness, what will he weigh today” phase of his life – until he stood on the scale. I looked at the number on the scale. In the world of Texas Childrens Hospital… everything is in grams. At birth, he weighed 850 grams (1 lb 15 oz). Friday, he weighed 8.5 kg. My math wasn’t quick enough to figure out exactly how many pounds that was in that second… but I knew it wasn’t enough! I looked at my mom, and as she said… the color in my face went straight to my feet!! Then, the nurse says, “18 lbs… and something ounces.” My mind stopped at the 18 lbs! He had been hovering around 20 lbs, and instead of gaining… he has LOST! That’s not even a legal weight to be turned around in his carseat!!

After the color returned to my face, we proceeded to the room where we would meet with the GI specialist. Many of you that know me, know that doctors offices are not on my list of favorite places. I hold them to a high standard and have high expectations for them, due to past experiences. But, mainly for the purpose that I am putting all of my trust in their knowledge and understanding; and when I put my trust and belief in something… it is all or nothing! The first lady that walked in was the nurse practitioner… I had met her once before, as she was a student when I took the boys in the summer of 2007 for their Meyer Center Neurological/Development appointment (that’s a whole other story – but it did add to my list of bad experiences). She was very sweet spirited that time, so my heart rate settled just a bit when she walked in. We discussed his history and his present. Then, in walked 4 more professionals. Whit’s facial expression and eye gaze to each individual person is exactly what I felt like doing. He was sitting in Mom’s lap, and he just looked up and stared at each of them… as if saying… “You just try and take me out of my Bibs’ lap!” Each individual that we spoke with… the nurse practitioner, the GI specialist, a nutritionist, a psychologist, and a social worker… ALL met and exceeded my standards! It was a productive and pleasant visit, and I did not walk out of there feeling like an inadequate mother! But, most importantly we got some advice and strategies to use in order to attempt to help Whit gain weight.

We came home with a list of foods that can add calories and protein to his diet. Of course, Corbett was reading them – and putting them on our grocery list with excitement and mouth drooling! He said that it was his way of supporting his son! We also started an appetite stimulant tonight. So, on our quest to make our IUGR baby gain weight… we will try this for a few months. Then, will see an endocrinologist in a few months to get our foot in the door for possible growth hormones in a few years.

He has had a recent language explosion... putting more and more words together. However, the intelligibility is still much to be desired. We were at Maggie's gymnastics tonight. A lady came in and sat in a chair next to me (the same chair Chap and Whit had been getting on and off throughout the time there). Whit leaned against my legs, looked up at me and said: "That is her chair." I was pleased with the idea that my two year old had the desire to share! Then, the lady thought he said: "Get up my chair." Hmmm, there goes the idea of sharing in HER mind! Oh well, I didn't have the heart to tell her that she didn't understand him right.