A few weeks ago, I wrote about my son Okra’s weight gain. At that time, he had gained a pound in a week. I was ecstatic and hoped that he would continue to gain. Last Wednesday was his follow up visit with his gastrointestinal specialist. I was anxious to see if he had gained more weight. Truth be told, I knew he must have been heavier because it had gotten harder to lift him and carry him in the last week or two. He just felt like a load to me. Fast forward to the visit, first thing he had to do was to check his weight and height. I was so pleased to learn that his weight went from 28 lbs to 30.8 lbs. He had gained almost 3 lbs in 6 weeks! Considering that he hadn’t gained any weight for 6 whole months (he had been 28 lbs for 6 months), this is such a shocker. What was more shocking was his height. When the nurse announced that he was 38.5 inches, I thought that she measured wrong and didn’t believe her. I told her that at the visit 6 weeks ago as well as the well check with his pediatrician 5 weeks ago, he was 37.125 inches. I told her to check the previous records and remeasure his height. She did both, and showed me that he is indeed 38.5 inches. Wow! I didn’t even think about the possibility of a height increase for him because I was so focused on putting weight on him. I just marvel at the power of food on his body. Not only did his body absorb all the nutrients to make weight gain possible, the food also made his body grow more than 1.25 inches in 6 weeks. When his GI specialist came in, we were both grinning like crazy people about his progress. She was so pleased that the appetite medication in combination with the Miralax have been so effective in helping him gain weight, and that she and I were on the same page in regards to the same approach and same goals. His weight went from 13th percentile to 30 something percentile for his sex and age. I told her that I was surprised at his height. She said that you could often see kids’ pants getting shorter. I told her that my quirky boy always pulls his pant legs up at home so there is no way for me to know how long his pants look on him. Hahaha. When she examined his stomach, she noted that his ribcage area was filling out unlike the last time when he was bonier. His stomach was also not distended anymore, which indicated that his constipation issue has gotten better. I told her that I did notice his increase in appetite, although he is still picky. But you know, Okra never really told me that he was hungry before, but he started telling me that he is hungry a few weeks ago sometime mid morning. I take it as a good sign. His water intake has become a power struggle. The frozen fruit strategy that I talked about last time doesn’t work anymore. In order to reach his daily fluid goal of 40 oz, I had to do a lot of different things to make him drink his water. Dr. GI Specialist said that life is too short and lowered his daily fluid goal to 32 oz. To me, that is much more manageable. As for his stool formation being mushy (he rarely has good formation), she told me to take photos of his stool a few days prior to returning for a follow up visit in two months, and we will discuss about it then. In the mean time, we will continue the treatment and see how he does. I walked away from the appointment with Okra so happy that he is doing so well. He told me that he was hungry and I gave him the muffins that he refused to eat at home. He happily ate all of that and then some other snacks on the way home. I know my son is still picky and changes his mind about foods that he once liked. It has always been a challenge to come up with new foods to entice him in order for him to eat more. For example, he had loved his “ice cream balls” (frozen balls of peanut butter, cream cheese, and honey), homemade chocolate pumpkin donuts, or raisin cookies. Last couple of days, he rejected all of these items. He recently stopped eating all carbs including his beloved bread and rice. He only eats this paratha from TJs so I slather on some butter and give it to him at dinner. Pickiness has made feeding him really difficult. But seeing his tremendous progress has spurred me on to continue to cook and bake and look up new recipes so that he will continue gaining and growing. That’s all I can do right? To help him the best way I know how.
In Quest of a Binky Moongee 