Katie vs. The Pediatrician

I’m having a rough day, having a hard time opening my eyes to see the trees, much less the forest. I know there will be days like this and that it will get easier in time, but knowing that doesn’t make days like this any easier. Matthew has all the needs of a regular four-month-old, and, of course, many, many more. He sees twelve different specialists. Twelve. Just coordinating the appointments is mind-boggling. Factor in his eating issues and the normal childhood illnesses going around our house, and some days it’s a bit overwhelming.

I need to preface the rest of this post by saying I’m pretty excited about where Matthew is right now. He’s gaining weight (and we’ve worked HARD to make sure of that), he’s interacting, and he’s getting stronger. He’s not a typical kid, but we don’t judge him on those standards. We know that he has low muscle tone, we know that his weight is low, we know his head is small. Not only do we accept these issues, they are a small part of what makes him singularly unique and perfect.

All of that said, I dislike taking Matthew to his well-child visits. I don’t know if it is just our pediatrician or if every pediatrician would be the same, but she just can’t get past comparing Matthew to the “typical” kid. Today his weight is still in the single-digit percentiles of the growth curve; I was excited he didn’t slide down, the pediatrician seemed a bit disappointed he didn’t gain. His head size slipped off the curve. Hmmm … I can’t make his head grow. Unless you can fix it or refer us to someone else or you have a concern that you haven’t voiced to us, he’s FINE!

So yeah, today’s been rough, but tomorrow will be better; I’ll probably even be able to see the trees. I just wish I knew when I’d be able to see the forest.

Happy 4th Month

Despite the recent ailments and feeding backslide, we have a lot to celebrate on Matthew’s 4 month birthday.

Matthew…
- smiles
-laughs
-moves his arms and legs
-interacts with us
-coos
-reaches for things
-holds his head up
-sleeps through the night
-is typically calm

We have to keep reminding ourselves that it has just been 4 months. Matthew has come a long way in 4 months, as we have. Thank you for the continued warm thoughts, well wishes and prayers!

GI Appointment Update

The GI gave us hope that this feeding backslide is temporary. He thinks that it is due to the croup, as Matthew still has some congestion and most likely swollen lungs. The hope is that once this all clears up (it can take up to 3 weeks), we’ll be back on the positive path. Even with this backslide, the doctor was happy with his weight gain since our last visit, and that is with Matthew not gaining anything in the past week. So we just have to wait out the bad feeds, hope that he heals quickly from the croup and ear infections, and keep giving him the GERD meds (bethanechol and zantac). I pray for my patience… to not only cope with the bad feeds, but to wait for the healing.

Stubborn Ear Infections

Poor baby Matthew can’t seem to catch a break. Tuesday evening he started running a fever, so Wednesday we headed back to the pediatrician. His double ear infection was still raging (now a week old), so now he’s on a stronger antibiotic. Hopefully this new med will cure his ear infections, and we can get his feeding back on track.

Until then, I’ve found that the best way to feed him is when he’s close to asleep or fully asleep. I’m usually against this sleep feeding, as I think it works against the brain mechanism that tells us when we are full, but at this point I’m a bit desperate to get food in him without him screaming. As many have said, “you do what you have to do”.