That's .39% on the weight graph thingy they do to keep track of things! He's 24 1/2 inches, pretty long I'd say. But our pediatrician said she's concerned with his weight. He's starting to sort of level off in his own weight gain- and that's not good. Because once the weight gain slows down, next the height slows down, and lastly the head circumference. And the head circumference affects brain development. And if he's not gaining weight, that could affect how tall he ends up being. I had NO idea those were all connected! So, now I'm even more concerned.
I had been of the mindset that he's just a slow eater, and a little peanut. And he will be until he gets his surgery to correct the cleft palate, and then he'll start eating better, more per feeding, and more often... well I guess I can't really think like that. Having him gain weight is very important. SOOOOO.... our pediatrician put him on a higher calorie formula. His old formula had 20 calories per ounce, and this one has 22/ounce. Doesn't seem like very much, but for him that's a good amount. And I'm still giving more formula than is needed for the water I use. IE: 5 ounces of water to 3 scoops of formula (which it should be 2 1/2- and each scoop has 44cal). So that's 132 calories per feeding, provided that he drinks the full 5 oz. Some days he's awesome, and some he doesn't want it all each time. Sorry, this is a lot of details. I'm sure some of you are interested, and some are skimming. No worries- I'd like to keep this for my blog book at the end of the year anyways to look back and see how far we've come. :)
Deklan is a pretty mellow little baby. He's a happy guy, smiles whenever he's looked at or talked to, and laughs for Zach. :) He is very patient, and as the 4th child, I'm thankful for that. But on the other hand, sometimes it's easy to let him wait longer than I should let him for feedings if we happen to be in the car picking up a child from school or something- because he doesn't really seem bothered by it. He'll fuss for a minute, then just hang out and wait. He's going to be a pretty go with the flow kind of guy, I'd say.
He's SO handsome too- he has the blondest hair of all the kids, and it just sticks straight up! It cracks us up- if we ever need a little pick me up, we just look at our little guy and give him kisses. He's just precious.
Oh, and I also called the feeding specialist that we've been hooked up with through our cranial facial surgeon that Dek sees- the Dr. who will be doing the surgery. The feeding specialist is awesome- super helpful, and a great listener. If I call with questions, she calls right back and is happy to help. She's asked that we start waking him up at night to feed him, to get even more calories in him. And we have to make sure it doesn't take more than 30 minutes for him to eat because even eating burns calories. Sheesh!
I never thought I'd have to do this, but we're now having to set our alarms and get him up to feed him. He's been sleeping through the night since 3 months, and now we're back to the broken up sleep! But it's all worth it if it can help him gain weight and bulk up a bit.
He has an appointment with our pediatrician next Wednesday for a weight, height, and head circumference check- so that will really tell us a lot. I hope this is all working! I'll post an update after his appointment next week.
Sorry for the long post- I just didn't know how to get this all across and leave details out! :)
All in all though, I will still say I'm grateful and feel very blessed to have 4 sweet little ones that are overall healthy. If this is the worst (at the moment) that we have to deal with, that's awesome. And I know time will pass, his surgery will be done, Deklan will grow, and we can be encouragements to others when they have little ones who are tiny. Just like other moms have been to me- they'll say oh my son or daughter was born at 4lb, and she's doing great! I love hearing those kinds of things.
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