Wednesday, February 01, 2012

The Trouble with Tyler

For those of you that don't know...Tyler has been losing weight.  He's gone down a size in his diapers and his pants.  Last Monday we went to the doctor because he had a nasty cough, and so I  weighed him while there just to see if my instincts were right and he hadn't been gaining any weight.  Well, since his 4 month check-up in December, he had lost one ounce.  The doctor sent us for some blood work to see what was going on inside his body, and today we went back for the results.  I weighed him again while there, and he had lost 4 ounces.  The results from his blood work are as follows:  his iron levels are low and his liver levels are high.  They aren't SO high that there is immediate cause for concern, but they are high enough to keep an eye on them.  The doctor gave us iron drops to take twice a day, and strict orders to start feeding him iron fortified cereal three times a day.  We go back at the beginning of March after another round of blood work to see if there is any change.

Later this afternoon, we headed over to the health unit for his 6 month shot.  I have to admit that it's pretty nice (for me anyway) that because he had so many shots 2 months ago (three) he only had to have one needle today!  He did AWESOME!  There was no crying whatsoever.  He sat there, sucked on a soother, and then giggled.  That boy is so brave!  Anyway, we weighed him again while there, and compared today's results with his 4 month results.  He was weighed naked both times, and in the past two months, Tyler has lost 1 pound.  The health nurse shuffled me over to the breastfeeding nurse who tried to see if maybe he and I were having latching problems and so he wasn't getting enough to eat.  That does not seem to be the case.  She suggested I start feeding Tyler meat instead of cereal and cluster feeding, and we'll go from there.  I now have to go every Monday afternoon this month for a weigh-in to see if he's gaining anything. 

*On a side note, there was an interning doctor at the breastfeeding clinic today.  I have to admit that it kind of embarrassed me to have to feed Tyler in front of them, and have him ask the nurse questions about latching while watching what Tyler was doing.  I think Tyler had a bit of performance anxiety as well!*

Anyway, that's all I have for an update at this time.  No answers.  I have been told by the doctor and several nurses not to panic, since that seems to be part of my nature, but I find it rather hard to do.  I have to keep remembering that verse in Matthew:

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  Matthew 6:27

I know that my worrying isn't going to make Tyler start gaining weight, but I wish that it would, that kid would be huge by now!

6 comments:

  1. I'm praying for you both, as I fully understand what you are going through right now.

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  2. Interesting . . . poor little fellow. Do they know why things are wacko?
    On an unrelated note, why didn't you tell me you started a blog??

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    1. Have I talked to you since I started a blog? I guess I have have. Sorry, it slipped my mind? No, they don't know why things are wacko. There will be extra tests in March if he still isn't gaining.

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  3. Well, I can breathe a little easier now!! And will keep praying the iron wiil help & he will take to the meat & begin to gain weight! xoxo

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  4. HEy I don't know what happened to my note as I wrote a whole long thing the other day... I am glad to hear they are figuring things out. Something that I thought of was maybe you aren't enough anymore. You may have enough milk but not nutritious enough. I know that was my problem towards the end with Rachel. She was eating well but because my body was in such high demand with the older two what i was giving her wasn't enough. The health unit would say to cluster feed because they only want breast milk but it may be contributing to the weight loss too. Just a thought I had.
    Miss you and wish I could be there to help you out. You were also so good at being a helping hand and now you need it and I am not there. Know that I am thinking about you and praying for you and Tyler.

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