Nolan had his one year checkup, and our poor little pincushion is now blissfully asleep after having his iron count/lead test, Prevnar, and Hib shots. The vital stats are:
Height: 29 1/2 inches. That's about the 25th percentile and not too far off from his growth curve.
Weight: 17 pounds, 12 ounces. Uh-oh. That's below the 3rd percentile and he's not even on the charts. Plus, he's fallen off of his own growth curve here.
And so begins the "mommy-worry." This is exacerbated by the fact that we don't have a cause for his hearing loss, so my mind goes in all sorts of directions. I doubt the following are related to the hearing loss, but I'm a mother so I worry anyway:
- Weight: The pediatrician thinks he's losing weight because we give him too many snacks. And he's walking and was recently weaned. I'm sure that's most of it, but we have structured snacks and good meals. Nolan doesn't eat a lot. In fact, he eats hardly anything at all. He drank a grand total of 3 ounces of milk yesterday. And nothing I can do convinces him to eat more! Anyway, we're under orders to decrease snacking and increase amounts given at meals. No juice is to be given whatsoever, under the theory that he won't starve himself and will increase consumption of high calorie milk. He doesn't get much diluted juice anyway (maybe 4 ounces a day), so this won't be hard to cut out. We'll see how it goes.
- Head lag. Nolan's head flops back when you lean him backward. This means that when he falls backward, his head hits first because he can't tuck it in. The rest of his gross motor skills seem age appropriate, so we're not too worried. But a part of me wonders why he doesn't have better control over his neck at the age of one.
- We've lost our only two words. For the past two weeks, there has been nary a "da" (ball) or "uh." Not sure if this is hearing related or if Nolan is going to follow his older brother's speech development pattern. On the other hand, we seem to have gotten our "B" sound back. You win some, you lose some!
The pediatrician also asked me if I had the MRI report. Darn it! I was hoping SHE did! With the additional drop in hearing, all of us want to see the report. The unofficial lowdown from the office staff was "normal," but I do want to see the report for myself. We have an ENT appointment next Wednesday, so I'll bring up my concerns there and see what that doctor thinks.
Other than a mildly weak neck and being very light weight, Nolan is doing great. His fine motor, cognitive, and most of his gross motor are at or above age level. So I guess I shouldn't worry too much!
6 comments:
Hi Leah,
It's our job as mommies to worry. Didn't you get the job description?
Your boys are adorable!
Jennifer :-)
Of course we worry as moms, it's like we have no choice! Kailyn was always between 1-5% in height & weight (Aiden weighs more now at 5 mths than she did at 1 year!), and she is a happy, healthy, VERY energetic girl! They always say that when babies start walking, they slim down. And what's so hard at this age too is getting them to eat. Before "toddlerhood", if they don't want their baby food, we know they'll get a good nursing/bottle to fill them up. It's hard to MAKE some toddlers eat! Good luck Leah!
Why is being a mommy so hard sometimes?! I've heard that as our children get older it doesn't get any better - we will forever worry!
Well I can totally relate to your worries. Ethan didn't climb up onto the charts until shortly after his 2nd birthday. Hang in there! I can't believe he's 1 already, he looks so big!
Hi Leah,
Two of my three are quite small-for-age... turns out it's just the way they are, no "medical" reason. But I sympathize with your worry!
One way we get more into them is "food layering". Like, if I make a PBJ for my skinny guy, I can put butter on both sides also. (I know, that horrifies the health conscious, but little kids actually NEED fats!)
We also gave our oldest "Mighty Milk"... I added powdered formula to his Whole Milk. He loved it.
I had to watch, though, that he wouldn't just fill up on milk, and not eat the actual FOOD.
For skinny kids, eating right before bed (even dessert!) is good, if it doesn't keep them awake.
Just a few ideas, but check with the Ped.
Julie :0)
Those are great ideas, Julie! I made him French Toast the other day with whole milk and made sure I buttered both sides of the bread. I figure if he's only eating a tiny bit, then at least we can pack a caloric punch! If he hasn't gained weight in a month then he'll go on a supplemental (like Ensure), but for now we're trying to just increase the calories. It is weird to have to slather things in butter, but that's the only way he's going to get hte fat and calories he needs! If only the rest of us had that problem, lol.
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