Friday, April 6, 2007

Mommy report: Weight update

We stopped in to Dr. Y's office today to do a quick weigh-in for Nebraska. She weighed 10 lbs 8 1/2 oz. That's down again. Dr. Y's concerned about her continued loss, and I understand that. But here's why I'm not...yet, anyway... On the DS growth chart, she is at about 50th percentile with length and about the 35th with weight. I understand that she's lost weight, and I am very appreciative of Dr. Y's attention to this (He's great.), but here's my thinking, and I'm curious what some of you others with more DS experience think. Since for the first 3 1/2 months of her life she was fed through a tube with a specific amount every 3 hours around the clock without fail, she gained weight. She gained alot, and very fast, due to our previous pediatrician having us increase her feeding amounts at a very rapid rate. This is obviously not normal or natural. We did this in order to help her gain as much as possible before the surgery. When we were at the hospital for her surgery and recovery, everyone commented on how "huge" she was compared to what they usually see at that age and condition.

So...although I understand the losing thing, it seems to me that since that was all kind of manufactured gain, some of it even as retained fluid, I am more interested in where she is currently on a growth chart, as well as how she is doing daily. She's functioning great. She shows no negative symptomatology. She has good energy. She is not dehydrated in any way. She's doing all the bodily functions that babies should be doing. She sleeps all night long (if we would let her, anyway). She complains when she's hungry, then she eats, then she's good for a while. Seems to be a good system. Both her father and I are short, he never liked to eat, from the very beginning, and I was a very small, slight baby. So this may be more her "norm" than we realize.

I obviously don't want her to be malnourished in any way, but I also don't want to get all worried and pressured about something that's not demanding of that reaction. And I have felt quite pressured lately, (note:the pressure is self-placed), to get her to improve her intake and consistency, etc. So today I pondered a while and this is what I came up with... with help from my mother's wise advice... She may just be finding her way back to her natural weight. We tweaked with nature in a way, at first, for a reason, and now that she's doing things the way it's supposed to be done, she's not fitting the particular mold that's been laid out. I could be wrong. If she continues to lose, we'll be sure to take whatever measures necessary to be sure she's healthy. We're making a few little adjustments this weekend to see if it helps before the weigh-in early next week. Call it mother's intuition or just an RK-gut feeling, but I think she'll start leveling off and gaining properly very soon. Your thoughts and/or tips are appreciated...

P.S. Braska went to bed early, plus her Pop took the camera with him tonight...there are some good pics from today, so she'll post in the morning for all of you who really only want to see what she says anyway.

2 comments:

  1. For my 2 cents worth, I think you need to go with your gut about how upset to get over her weight. No one else knows her better than you and M, even her doctors don't, so if something does not feel right to you, get it checked out. But if your gut and heart are telling you she is just leveling out than stick with it!

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  2. Going through the NG tube thing ourselves now, I have to agree...it seems like the weight gain is manufactured. For a good reason of course. Hope things are working themselves out now. Hope Braska starts to feel better sooN!

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