4 Weeks Later: A Follow Up With Avery’s GI Doctor
It’s been four weeks since our first appointment with the pediatric gastroenterologist to help understand why Avery isn’t gaining enough weight. We just returned this afternoon from our follow up appointment and I am finally happy to report some good news!
All of Avery’s blood work came back normal and she gained an entire pound in just four weeks. This is huge news for us seeing as she only gained 1 1/2 pounds in three months at her nine month appointment.
I was very nervous about today’s appointment because with Avery being sick last week she had absolutely no appetite. She was refusing every solid food I gave her (even yogurt which is her favorite) and wouldn’t even take a bottle. All she wanted to do was nurse, and even then she was so congested it was hard for her to get a good nursing session in. But despite her decreased appetite, she still managed to gain weight.
She is still in the third percentile in both height and weight, but she is on a steady slope and didn’t drop at all since last month’s appointment. So our next step is to continue doing what we are doing and hope that she continues to gain weight at the pace she is currently at (or even greater.) Developmentally she is doing great, so there is no need to worry about that at all.
I’ve taken all of the suggestions from friends and from your comments (which were extremely helpful) and have really done all that I could to help Avery gain weight in the most healthy way (more on how we’ve done it in my next post.) I was determined not to have to supplement with formula or with Pediasure (as her pediatrician recommended) and so far so good. After being pushed into a corner and force to feed formula to Harlan, it feels so good to know that I have other options and so far my choices are working! Thanks to you for all of your support to help get us through!
We go back to the GI doctor in six weeks for another appointment to see how much weight Avery has gained. Here’s to hoping that we maintain this steady weight gain!
More from Lauren on Baby’s First Year:
- 10 Toys My Baby and My Toddler Play With
- My Favorite Photos from Avery’s 10th Month
- 13 Ways I Want to Become a Better Mother in 2013
- 12 Favorite Avery Moments of 2012
- 5 Ways I Increased My Milk Supply in One Week
- Is our Breastfeeding Journey Over?
Read more from Lauren at her personal blog, A Mommy in the City, where she chronicles her life living in New York City with a suburban mentality. For more updates, follow Lauren on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram! Check out more of Lauren’s Babble posts at Being Pregnant and Baby’s First Year.
HOORAY! I’m so happy to hear your good news. Thanks for sharing!
Hi! I realize this is over a month behind, but I just discovered you and all these posts about your sweet baby girl gaining weight. I have to tell you how relieved I am to read your story, and that you have been able to get your supply to bounce back, and that your baby girl is gaining. I, too, have a wee bitty girl. She is 7.5 months old and weighs right around 13lbs, and is 26 inches long or so. I’m constantly trying to feed her and nurse her (my supply plummeted after a month of a severe GI virus, then a cold, then mastitis)- but I know she’s not getting what she is used to/should be through nursing. She’s also become fairly distractible when nursing. On top of that- she refuses ALL solids/purees if we try to spoon them in her mouth. She clamps her mouth shut and just won’t take it, so we have to resort to finger foods, which she does well with but I know it’s not as nutritionally satisfying as the purees might be. It’s been so discouraging and I’ve spent many an evening crying over what’s going to happen and am I going to have to supplement, etc. etc.
Thank you for sharing your story. It has definitely encouraged me tonight.