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.