We went in six weeks after the first appointment to see how he was growing and the doctor was still concerned with his growth because he had only gained a few ounces. I was so frustrated because I thought I had fed him more and really focused on getting more food in his little belly. A blood test the day before showed that his iron levels were coming up after we had been taking iron supplements daily. But still not enough weight gain. So more blood tests were ordered...this time to check for thyroid problems and celiac's disease. Have I mentioned that I hate seeing them take his blood? It hurts my mama heart to hear him scream like that...
I waited nervously for a couple days to hear the results and both tests came back negative. This was good, but still no answers. Did he just need to eat more or was there some other underlying issue that I wasn't aware of?
Two weeks later we visited with a dietitian at the clinic. Our doctor had highly recommended it and I thought some good could come from it. The lady was super nice and she gave me lots of tips like not being so worried about him eating a certain amount at each meal. Sometimes toddlers are hungry and sometimes they aren't. If they don't eat much at one meal, they'll eat more later. I also was one of those moms who let their kid snack any time they wanted, where ever they wanted. Yes, I hated stepping on goldfish in my bedroom, but my thought was that if he wanted to eat, more power to him. Go on and eat those goldfish in my bedroom. Apparently, not a very good mommy move for more reasons than just my poor bedroom floor. If he snacks all the time and drinks juice any time he wants, he gets full, therefore, eating terribly at meal time. There was an "Ah Ha" moment for me!
The dietitian also gave me a sheet with recommended food to give to Brecken. On the back was the foods I wasn't supposed to give him - low-fat milk, low-fat yogurt...basically anything low-fat or fat-free was frowned upon. I guess you could guess what was on the "recommended" list: yup, HIGH fat everything. Whole milk yogurt, whole milk, butter, cream cheese, cheese, cheese spread, buttery crackers, ice cream, ect. Basically, everything you shouldn't ever be encouraged by a clinic to give your child to eat. But they did recommend it, so off I went and packed my cart with high-fat foods and tried to shove them into my toddler.
After only feeding him in his high chair for meal and snack time and not being so uptight about how much he was eating, he seemed to eat more. And he started drinking alot more milk- something he barely touched before.
Two weeks after the dietitian appointment, we were scheduled to have another appointment with the doctor. I thought this was pointless, because after all, it was just two weeks after he was last weighed at the other appointment and no change. It was also the week of Christmas and with all the traveling, I didn't think there would be good results.
(photo by Tessa Leen Photography)
I was incredibly surprised when he was weighed and he had gained weight. The last three times he came into the clinic he was in the 4% for his weight and this time he was in the 8%!! Up 4% in just two weeks! We were doing something right! Woohoo! So then the doctor said that he just must be smaller and that he must not have been eating enough calories to keep up with the amount he was burning off. Hmm... I always wondered if this could just be the problem. Then it makes me feel bad for all the blood tests Breck had to go through... but I guess it's better to be safe than sorry and we now know it wasn't a worse problem.
So there ya go, mystery solved. At least I hope it is! We go in again in a few weeks and hopefully he is up a bit more in weight!
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