Failure to Thrive

We had Enoch's one month follow up appointment on Tuesday (yesterday) to check on his weight (you can read this to see why we needed a follow up appt). The appointment went well, and I was very please with the new doctor we me with. (She was recommended by a friend who had interned under this doc last year.) Dr. Sykes asked lots of questions and looked at Enoch's charts carefully. She definitely took his weight issues seriously, but she also did a great job of not freaking out. (which this mama appreciates!) Anyway, coming away from the appointment, there is good news and bad...

The good news is that Enoch has gained some weight over the past month... 10 whole ounces! That was music to my ears since we've been working so diligently at feeding our little man mor solids, and I managed to sneak in an extra nursing session per day for the past month.

But, the bad news is that he dropped in percentiles again. At his nine month check up, he was in the 10th percentile, but now he is down in the 3rd percentile (at ten mos). Remember that at 2 mos he was over 19.5 lbs and way above the 100th percentile, so for him to be "up" to 17 lbs, 14 oz is progress (considering he was 17 - 4 last month), but with such a big drop in percentiles, you can imagine how the charts look... pretty dismal.  :(  The other issue is that developmentally, he's a little behind.  Normally, this is not a big deal, but with the weight issues, Dr. Sykes was concerned that he isn't yet crawling (or walking).  So, as a result of the weight gain issues and the lack of crawling, Dr. Sykes has pronounced Enoch as failing to thrive.

Enoch after having blood drawn
(see the hospital band on his ankle?)

Anyway, Dr. Sykes (who also happens to be a Christian) was great about brainstorming through possible issues and asking good questions. She decided to "cast" two large nets to see if she can find the problem. The first is to see if anything is wrong with Enoch's metabolism or how his body is using the food he's getting. So she ordered some labwork for him to see if anything came back even slightly off. Second, she wanted to change a few things about what little man's eating.  The main idea is to figure out if my breastmilk has changed (which, of course it has to some degree..).  For instance, it's possible that my milk is lower in calories or that my supply has decreased.  So the original plan was to use up all of my frozen breastmilk (Since it was from the timeframe when Enoch was still gaining weight, the idea was that if he gained a significant amount of weight this week, then we would know that my current milk production could be the lacking in some way.), but I think my frozen milk has soured (either in transport from AR or due to its shelf-life in the freezer). So now the second "net" we are trying is to give Enoch a bit of formula after each nursing session (the goal is around 2 ounces per feeding).

[update 1: We now think that my frozen milk hasn't actually gone bad. When I tested the formula bottle at dinner, it tasted the same as my frozen milk which I thought had gone bad this morning... for some reason they just both taste and smell horrible to me.  Hugh tried my frozen milk tonight and confirmed that it tastes similar to the formula, so we think it is okay... I have no idea why, but the smell of either makes me gag, let alone the taste.   And yes it is weird taste-test your own milk... the things we moms do for our little ones.  haha!]  So, we may also use the frozen milk to supplement Enoch's nursings.]
[update 2: Enoch's bloodwork came back pretty normal.  There were a few numbers close to the edge of normal, but nothing concerning at first glance.  Dr. Sykes (who called me today!!) said that she is running Enoch's info by another pediatrician who she greatly respects in hopes of having a second opinion and a course of action ready for next week.  So thankful for her phone call today...  I love our new doctor!!!!!!]

Back to the issues at hand: we have made another follow-up appointment for the middle of next week, so we will soon find out if the extra nursing sessions are working AND the results of the labwork.

Until then, please join with us in praying.

• We are praying that our sovereign Creator, the ultimate Healer, will resolve any issues with Enoch's digestive system and my milk supply (wherever the issues may lie) so that he will make monumental progress in gaining weight this week.   
• We are also praying that Dr. Sykes (and others) will have wisdom as she analyzes labwork results and decides what our next step of action is.
• Additionally, we are praying that the Lord of peace would provide us and our family with perfect peace as we walk through this trial.  We understand that Enoch's life is in God's loving hand and that trusting in Him and relying on Him is all that we can do as we seek to be faithful in the details.  

Isaiah 26:3 - "You keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in YOU." (NIV, emphasis mine)

I can thankfully testify that the Lord has given me peace and rest today.  Yesterday evening/last night was rough for me (and Hugh) as we wrestled through what our baby "failing to thrive" meant for our family.  I'm thankful for a husband who so faithfully leads us in prayer through hard times like these, and for a merciful heavenly Father who never sleeps nor slumbers, meaning that my pleas for help are always heard...

I lift my eyes to the hills.  

From where does my help come?

My help comes from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved; 

he who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he who keeps Israel 

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;

the Lord is your shade on your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day, 

nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore.

(Psalm 121)

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And for those of you who are wondering, Enoch seems to be doing great aside from this medical report.  We are SO thankful that he is still a happy, active little guy!  He's chowing down on some Cheerios as I type, and below you can see some pics from lunch earlier today.  His appetite is still quite large, he's sleeping great, and he's having plenty of wet/dirty diapers (this mama can certainly testify about all of those diapers!!!).  ;)   And even though he's not yet crawling, he is quite active.  Enoch loves scooching around on his bottom (usually backwards or in circles), and he's quite proficient at making circles and rolling while on his tummy.  To be honest, it's possible that he's just so content (and able to move just enough to stay content) that he doesn't have much incentive for crawling yet.  He can also go from sitting to lying on his tummy (he just did this to reach some Cheerios), but there's just something uncomfortable to him about being up on his knees in a crawling position.

Eating grapes and cheese for lunch.

Sweet, full-tummy smile...  melts my heart!