Jac had his five month checkup today (normally babies have four and six month checkups but because Jac is special he had a five month).
He weighed in at 7 pounds 5 ounces. This is up 15 ounces from his four month checkup - which is a significant slowdown in his growth rate. Since he left the hospital he had been gaining weight at a rate of about an ounce a day (so 2 pounds a month) and this month he only gained 1 pound. He is now 20 inches long and his head is 37 cm.
You can see in his weight graph that his weight gain has flattened out. Jac has been off of his oxygen since Nov. 20th. His oxygenation is fine - but it is possible that this is influencing his weight gain. Going back to sea level for 3 weeks at Christmas should help us figure out if the thin air here in Boulder is influencing his growth (we will have a weight check in the middle of our visit).
My instincts tell me that the real problem is his feeding. His feedings have gone down in volume even as he has grown. It is possible this is related to oxygenation but I think it has much more to do with his reflux which as I have mentioned seems to be getting worse.
The doctor has suggested some possible things to help. She has suggested thickening his feeds with rice cereal. The idea is that this helps his food stay down in his stomach rather than coming back up into his esophagus and burning. I am not so sure that I really want to do that. I am consulting some of the listservs that I am on to see what other Mom's experiences are with this sort of thing.
The other possibility is to add another medication to treat the reflux. This one is called Axid. It works in a different way than Prevacid and could potentially help with the reflux.
We are going to try some combination of the rice cereal and the Axid and see if his reflux and feedings get any better. If by January his feedings have not improved his doctor wants us to see a gastroenterologist.
So - all in all - not the best checkup he has had. We shall hope that by the time of his six month checkup things will have looked up a bit and he will be a lot bigger! It feels weird sometimes to have a baby that is almost five months old and is the size of a newborn.
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you could try the total elimination diet I mentioned. I know it stinks but I was doing that during Christmas last year. Ugh. I have read mixed things about the rice cereal. I have heard of doing that for cases with extreme reflux. I hope you find more data. Good luck with all of this. We look forward to seeing you after Christmas.
ReplyDeleteKaren B.
I left you a message from my cell phone on my way back from Alaska. It doesn't seem to have gone through.
ReplyDeleteHave yo spoken to Kelly Anger? She had a lot of issues with her Jack.
Has the dairy made any difference?
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for signing Alden's blog! I just want you to know that we have been down this road, and reflux does seem to get worse before it gets better. Really, it was like one day Alden hated to eat, and the next he had this huge appetite for no known reason. You are doing such a great job with the breastfeeding! Alden never took to it, I think because of his reflux issues. So I still pump all day! We tried rice cereal, but then literally watched my breastmilk enzymes break it down to liquid. It was sort of cool and frustrating. One more thing, breastmilk babies typically gain weight faster early on, and then slow down as they get older. This is why they are not at risk for obesity as they get older. It was also really hard for me to see Alden go from 2 lbs a month to 1 lb a month, but his pediatrician assured me that that is still within the norm, especially for a breastmilk babe. You are doing so great, and Jac is a BEAUTIFUL baby!
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