GI Scopes--Sounds a Bit Like GI Joe Only Not Quite as Cool

Did you ever watch GI Joe cartoons as a kid?  I'm a child of the 80's and I loved to watch GI Joe every afternoon.  Every cartoon would end with some type of lesson or moral message and the phrase, "And knowing is half the battle." 

We had Baby Girl's GI scope and it went okay.  My sweet husband worked from home so I could get up extra early to fight rush hour traffic and be at the hospital for her procedure.  He would have come with me, but we needed to get the other kids off to school. 

I was allowed to nurse her until 7 am and then no liquids whatsoever.  She didn't get any food from before midnight the night before. 

We got her checked in and there were all kinds of kids there having a multitude of surgical procedures done in the pediatric surgical center.  One young man who had a hard time speaking fluidly told me he thought Baby Girl was a cute baby.  He then proceded to ask me what kind of car I drove.  I told him a minivan. He told me he wanted to drive a Dodge Viper, because they were cool. 

He was having surgery related to injuries he sustained from a hit and run accident where he was a pedestrian.  They never caught the person who hit him. He was lovely to talk to, and I admire the courage he exhibits as he is trying to pull his life back together after a devastating accident. 

The procedure went smoothly.  The most heartbreaking moment for me was when I walked Baby Girl back to the operating room and they put the gas mask on her so she would go to sleep.  The look on her face said, "Why are you doing this to me?" 

She looked so tiny in her recovery bed. 

The doctor did not find any obvious signs of inflammation, but she took biospies of several areas to test.  We'll know the results in a few weeks. 

And knowing is half the battle. 

Maybe then we can have a plan of action that will allow us to help my daughter gain (and keep) weight. 

Baby Girl has lost half a pound (again)

Darn it.  I really had hoped we had turned a corner on this when she had gained a pound in two weeks time.  One week and a half later and she is back down.  Our primary care provider wants us to go ahead with the GI scope for next week.  She just shouldn't be losing weight like this. 

I think I obsess over her weight more than mine. 

I am feeding her at least four times a day, snacks and now we've started supplementing with soy milk since she is allergic to cows milk.  I'm at a loss of what else to do.  There are days I feel like I'm feeding her all day long.  I'll keep it up as long as I need to though. 

And even though I had planned on nursing her a long time (she is my last baby after all), I am thinking more and more about weaning her.  (Just in case I am the problem here). 

Urgent Care visit for eye injury

Until a little over a year ago, I had never had to get stitches for any of my kids--even though I have some daredevils with ADHD.  Then, in December 2011, Lawboy thought it would be funny to scare Acroboy.  He did and Acroboy jumped and hit the trim on the half-wall.  Acroboy split open the skin underneath his eyebrow and I could tell he would need stitches.  We tried the urgent care first, but it turned out they had just closed.  We headed to the ER instead.  Acroboy got three stitches.  He had a hard time with the needles and there was basically a team to hold him and fix him up.  

Fast forward to today.  The same two boys were messing around again and Lawboy ran into Acroboy, who now wears glasses.  The glasses smashed into Acroboy's face and now he has a cut above his eye.  In the same place as last time.  

I'm feeling a little bit of déjà vu.  This time the urgent care is open and the cut will only require a little medical superglue instead of stitches.  I am grateful for that.  It could be worse--much worse, and for that I'll count my blessings.  

Baby Girl gained a pound!

We saw the allergist today and she has gained a pound in just two weeks!  The pediatric allergist wants us to continue to eliminate milk from her diet.  We are to reintroduce milk products at 18 months. 

I know we have had a lot of family members praying for our sweet little girl and I am thankful for those prayers.  I trust in my Heavenly Father and in my Savior that we will somehow get the answers we need and that my baby will be all right.  We'll do our part, but ultimately it is our of our hands. 

Failure to Thrive

Failure to thrive. 

It feels like a punch in the guts.  What is going on with my baby girl?  I feed her a lot--just as much as I've ever fed her older siblings, yet this little girl cannot seem to put on more than a few ounces. 

She was 17 pounds at the beginning of the year and here we are nearly five months later and she has only gained a pound or so. 

I took her to a pediatric gastroenterologist to try and figure out what is going on.  She saw how my little girl started off in the 95% percentile for weight and has dropped growth curves until she is now just below 10%.  She looks like a healthy, happy baby, but those growth curves tell us something is going on.  The doctor doubted Baby Girl would test positive for Celiac disease, but suggested we run comprehensive blood work and scope her to determine if there are any physical reasons she may not be absorbing her food well.  She diagnosed her as "Failure to Thrive."

Developmentally she is doing well enough.  She started walking on Easter Sunday and she seems pretty social.  I am concerned about some sensory sensitivities I see, but time is needed to see if they will be an issue in the long run.

The GI doctor also wants us to talk to a pediatric food allergist.  She made a recommendation and we will go in to try and figure out if there are other foods we should avoid.  I've started milk elimination from my diet and it seems to make a difference--at least in her skin.  We'll figure out what else we need to do I guess.  We pray for our little girl and her doctors.