He was a large baby at birth. 9lbs 8oz. The largest of my 4 children. He is now 8 months old.
And he has failure to thrive. Such a "catch-all" phrase. WHAT does that mean? Really?
Caleb is not gaining weight well, in fact he has fluctuated between gaining and loosing weight. Gain an ounce. . . . loose 2 ounces. Gain 5 ounces. . . loose 3 ounces. Up. Down. In total, over his 8 months, he has gained a grand total of a couple ounces short of 4 pounds. That's it. Just 4 little pounds. Most of that he gained in his first 2-3 months. He started in the 95% and has sadly dropped down to the -20% on the growth chart.
We don't know why. His pediatrician has ran many tests, including some very scary sounding ones such as cystic fibrosis. I must admit, I had myself all but convinced that the C.F. test was going to come back positive. Google can be our best friend and our worst enemy all at the same time if you know what I mean. Knowledge is good. It is a good thing to research and see what we are possibly up against, On the other hand, it is very easy to manipulate ourselves into seeing EVERY "symptom" as one that we (or in this case my son) had. Including my Irish heritage.
Praise the Lord, that test came back negative! Although, a week later I was talking to my cousin and found out that her new baby only a couple months younger than Caleb has Downs Syndrome. I felt a little guilty that my little pumpkin pie was cleared of a life shortening disease. Does that make sense? Her little man is such a darling little guy. . . .so cute. . . . and as far as Down's goes, he is pretty healthy.
So we've met with a G.I. specialist and she has put Caleb on a diet that triples his caloric intake. Her main goal at this point is to get his weight up (and also to. . . um. . . clear him out, poor little guy has been super constipated regardless of what I give him). He goes in for a weight check with her next week. Praying that his weight has gone up. I think it has but I'm not sure if it is my own wishful thinking. We've talked about gluten and dairy allergies, but the specialist doesn't believe that's the case here. I guess there will be more tests done, I just don't yet know what they will be.
Another thing I'm doing for him is to bring him to a chiropractor. Dr. T is great. The kids all love the "firer-cracter". I don't know what difference it is making, but the whole body works better when everything is aligned the way it is meant to be.
Would you pray with my as we go along Caleb's journey and figure out what is going on with my little guy?
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