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| Haley and Thomas |
Haley saw an endocrinologist for the first time on Friday. She was referred by her pediatrician to the endocrinologist because of her poor growth and short stature. Haley is small and weighs only 18 pounds. She is the size of an 8-9 month old. The endocrinologist doesn't know exactly why she is so little, but they are doing some lab tests to see if they can figure it out. She may or may not have a deficiency in her growth hormones. The endocrinologist did speculate her slow grow may be due to her extreme prematurity, not taking in enough calories and/or partly genetics. I have to agree that Haley is probably not taking in enough calories. We try hard everyday to get her to eat as many calories as we can. She is a finicky eater. I add calories to her foods and she drinks Pediasure, but sometimes I don't think its enough. We should get a better idea of what is going on when we get the lab results.
Yay for a new job, it is always a relief to know that there will be money coming in :) I hope the doctors can figure out what is going on with your little one. I keep coming back to your blog every once in a while and it is just amazing how they keep going forward and they are both so cute!!!
ReplyDeletePraise God, we have been praying in Virginia.
ReplyDeleteamanda, my daughter was a micropreemie and spent 5 months NICU, she was 12# at one year, 18# at two years, 22# at 3 years, 24# at 4 years, 24#2oz at 4 & 5 years, look on my FB page of her friday night, we were told every negative prognosis possible in the book about her, not the least of which was that she wouldn't be very tall, she has totally outdone all the naysayers, i think you are wise to see the endocrinologist, but some of these kids with such a hard start just take a lot longer, my daughter looked like a newborn sized baby at age 1, except she could sit up, 1st time to pull up was 20 months, your girls are way ahead of that, love
ReplyDeleteVery glad Thomas found a job. I was praying for him.
ReplyDeleteYeah for a new job! That must have been a scary time for you guys!
ReplyDeleteMy 4.5 year old (not preemie) is just 27 lbs and 95 cms. We've been making our rounds at various clinics (not endocrinology yet, but that along with metabolics and genetics is next on the list). I'm not sure if our thus-far negative results makes me happy, frustrated or both. We'd sure like to find a reason, but I'm also concerned about what that reason may be. Despite "having" to do these tests and referrals, her pediatrician is not so concerned. She tells me over and over, "Some kids are just small". Please know Haley is not alone!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad Thomas found a job, we have kept you in our prayers! I hope you get answers for Hayley soon!
ReplyDeleteSo glad Thomas was offered a job. What a blessing that is for your family.... Haley seeing an endocrinologist can't be a bad thing. My son, who was a 25 weeker, had to be put on medicine at 12 months because he was not gaining weight. He weighed 12lbs at 1 yr. After running blood tests, they determined that his thyroid counts were off, just slightly, but because of his past, they went ahead and medicated him. They say in a lot of cases in small children, they usually can come off the medicine at age 3, because their thyroids start functioning normally at that point, which is what happened in our case. That may be all Haley needs to jump start her weight gain... I love reading your blog. What sweet little miracle girls you have!
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy Thomas has a job, congratulations! I've been praying a lot for all of you. I'm sure you will soon find out something about Haley, but don't worry too much about it. She is cute and special just the way she is. I'm sure she will be just fine. I will continue to keep all of you in my prayers. Love, Claudia.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the new job!
ReplyDeleteMy Becca (who is nearly 3) is on growth hormone shots, is tube-fed with some super-high calorie formula and is in feeding therapy, and we still struggle with growth - less than before, but still a struggle. If you want to know more about her issues and treatments, you can visit ittybittyhill.blogspot.com. (She was a preemie as well.) Feel free to e-mail me directly with questions at SpeasHill@gmail.com. Growth issues are tricky, and sometimes it's helpful to have a friend who is a little farther down the road to talk through things with!
Congratulations on the new job! That is great news!
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine had a daughter at 40 weeks and was approximately 6 lbs. She's now 3 yo and weighs maybe 22-25 lbs. Her first problem was that the breastmilk was literally skim, not fatty like it should be. They didn't figure this out til the end of the first year, so she was started on higher calorie foods. She's slowly gaining weight, and I do mean SLOWLY. Her doctor finally recommended benacalorie. It can be found at walgreens.com for the best price. If you qualify for WIC they will cover it too, mostly because she was SO far down on the weight charts. She would give her daughter a can or two a day with meals, and it did help her to gain weight when nothing else was working. Hope this helps! Dana
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