I'll try to do better!
A year ago this week, the little man was in the hospital for the first time having fallen back under eight pounds.
But this year...
Our little man isn't so little anymore! Praise God! At 15 months, he's finally nearing twenty pounds!
He was right at 13 pounds at a year and ended up hospitalized for four days in early August with that nasty gastrointestinal bug [*I* lost 10lbs in 4 days with it - he lost 11oz in 9 days to take him back under 12.5lbs]. We were already being sent to the CARE/Failure to Thrive Clinic at Children's Mercy Hospital in KC the next week and the consensus at the hospital and with the specialists was that he needed what we call the Michael Phelps diet. Two Pediasures a day plus all kinds of other high fat, high calorie foods. The Pediasure alone runs about $2.50 a day.
Thank God we were debt free [but the house and the student loans] as we took a big pay cut this fall [and will likely continue in the spring]. The special drink took a big percentage of our food budget but we were able to buy it no problem. It was what he needed which was all we really need to know. In that time, he's gained over seven pounds - more than he gained in the whole first year.
And last week, the specialists in KC released him from their care! They're moving him down to one Pediasure a day and down to none after he turns 18mo or so.
Check him out below. The picture on the left was at his first birthday party - after he got sick, before he was admitted. He was probably 12lbs 10-11oz then. The second picture was the birthday party for our two oldest girls in October. He was probably about 18.5lbs or so then, eleven weeks later.
Unfortunately, we just found out we're going to have to change doctors because of insurance reasons :(. We hate that because our docs are FABULOUS and the pediatrician we used to have in the other network isn't taking new patients. :(
But God is good.
All the time.
And something will work out :).
