If only love would make them grow...

Emu and Duckling have both had issues with growing...or actually...not growing!  Each having their own completely different unrelated issues! 

For Emu, his height growth halted when he turned 2.  Now, at 4 years old, he is the same size he was a few years ago.  He is a few pounds heavier, but he is still the same height!  He can wear some size 3t without tripping over them, but he still sports quite a few size 18month and 24month pants.  At his 3 year well check it was thought that he hadn't grown over the course of his last year.  His pediatrician decided that possibly there was an error in his measurement somewhere and decided to "watch" him, rather than put him through testing quite yet.  As she requested, I took him back 6 months later for a weight/height check.  After comparing his growth charts, she said he had grown and she had no worries, even though he was still very small.   At his 4 year check up, he checked out healthy (still questioning Autism Spectrum or ADHD, or as his "daddy" says, he's full of energy) but, it was then discovered that he had "shrank" and was back to the same height that he was at that 3 year check up a year before, so apparently...he was acually mismeasured at that 6 month check up appointment and he hadn't really grown at all.  He was sent for a "bone age" xray and those results were "borderline abnormal", which was not a good thing, because this meant that he would NOT be expected to "catch up" later and have a major growth spurt.  He was then sent to the same Endocrinologist that Duckling sees.  At his initial appointment, I requested that due to his history...we get right to testing his growth hormone.  I was familiar with what to expect because we had gone through this with Duckling just 6 months before.  I had actually refused this testing initially with Duckling, but intuitively felt that is was necessary for Emu.  She instructed that we could discuss the possibility of testing his actual growth hormone at a later date, but first had to do the initial workup then go from there.  I always thought something just wasn't right, but people tell me I tend to worry too much...so, I hoped that this time, I was wrong...and after all...Duckling is small too, so maybe it was genetic!  When the phone rang today and Hawk said it was the Endocrinologist...I just knew.  She said everything came back ok, except his "growth factor"...it was very low.  This indicates that he actually does have a growth hormone deficiency.  So, for him...growth hormone testing is necessary.  So, now we await his day long visit to the hospital so that he can have his actual growth hormone tested.  This is a 4-8 hour process in which they draw his blood every 10 minutes.  They have to do this because the growth hormone changes constantly!  If it is confirmed that he does have a growth hormone deficiency, then they may look at possibilities of other syndromes being the cause, but regardless...he would have to have growth hormone (daily shots) in order to grow. 

It's amazing how things like this don't upset me.  I feel somewhat guilty for not being upset, but...I know that no matter what is wrong...we will get through it.  He's healthy and thriving...he's just small.  I will do the same as I always do...I will research and learn everything that I can about what is wrong, so that I can make an educated decision and do what is best for my child.  As I talked to my brother about Emu tonight, we were able to laugh and joke about Emu being 40 years old stuck in his little 2 year old body...riding down the road in his little Razor motorcyle.  He was glad to see that I could laugh about it rather than being upset and crying.  I guess you just become this way when you've been through all the things that we've been through.  Small things like this, don't seem to be such a big deal.  It's kinda the same as when Duckling was born and I found out that she was deaf in at least one ear...it really didn't matter...she was healthy and she was here...that's all that really matters, the rest is just about adjusting to their differences and coping the best we can.

Duckling has always struggled with her weight.  When she was just a week old, she was hospitalized for having a dramatic weight loss...dropping down to just 4lbs. 8 oz.  She wasn't dehydrated so they knew she was getting enough to eat...they couldn't find anything medically "wrong" with her and she was released after a few days.  She always struggled with getting enough liquid intake, then when she started solid foods she had issues with projectile vomiting and numerous ALTE episodes.  She was then diagnosed with numerous food allergies and later went on to have problems feeding.  She was in numerous therapies to "learn" to eat and for her multitude of delays.  Her high chair had to be specially adapted for her due to her small size and motor delays.  She saw specialist after specialist...never getting any "real" answers.  Just as she got to the point of needing a feeding tube, she came around on her own, but just barely keeping the GI specialist from tubing her.  As she was months away from her 2nd Birthday, her GI specialist still wanted her calories to come from her special formula and only wanted her to eat enough food to not loose the skill of eating..this was not a practice that I was ok with, so we stopped going.  We moved and started all over with different specialists.  Her new GI, and Nutritionist agreed that "she's just genetically small"!  She was sent to Endocrinology and her workup there showed no syndromes or genetic disorders causing her to be so small.  It was possible that due to her unusually small size, she may qualify for growth hormone, but I initially refused growth hormone testing and agreed to have it done if she didn't grow in a 6 month period.  When we went back for her 6 month check up with Endocrinology, she had grown in height but not weight.  Since she had grown in height, it was not necessary to do the growth hormone testing on her, but her weight (just 23 pounds a month shy of her 3rd birthday) is still a concern.  We met with one of her nutritionalists the other day and according to their scale...she is gaining weight...2 lbs since they last saw her.  Since her food/fluid intake is so small, they are really pressing for us to give scheduled snacks in between meals.  She said that she can't possibly gain weight in the small amounts of foods that she eats for her 3 meals.  We had cut snacks around here out of fear that it will ruin their appetites for dinner.  They didn't have a lot of tips to offer, just the basics...add butter, powder milk, peanut butter, yogurt, whip cream, cream chese, etc. etc. to any foods we could.  I came home and researched her theory on toddler snacking and couldn't find one article or website that disagreed with her.  So, I dug through my file cabinet and found all of the useful handouts we got from one of her therapists on adding calories when she was just an infant struggling to eat anything at all.  Back then, the GI doctor was trying to have me add oil to her formula...seriously, who would drink that and it just didn't seem healthy.

We've tried most of these things in the past and surprisingly the kids love quite a few of these things.  So, for now...we will go back to scheduled snacks between meals and I will make a point to make at least 1 or 2 snacks a "Calorie Booster" packed with a punch!  After all...every calorie counts...even though they won't help Emu grow!

In the next few days, I will work on putting toghether all of the great ideas for adding calories for those kids that struggle with weight gain....

.......if only love would make them grow!