Tuesday, May 5, 2009

The Letters Surrounding H: That would be G & I

GI appointments are frustrating. Admittedly I am the person who likes to make sense out of everything, and I get frustrated when things don't make sense. I fundamentally do not understand why Miss J doesn't eat that much, and she really doesn't eat that much at one time. 1 ounce - 3 ounces of formula at a feeding seems really low for being almost one-year old.

He gave us the same song and dance. She's Julia, and you can't compare her to any other baby. According to him, she's growing just GREAT!!!!! Can I add any more exclamation marks? He's so enthuisiastic about her progress to 17 lbs, 7 ounces. Do you know how much we work to get her to eat? It's a full-time freaking job. She's soared to the 5th percentile, though, so I guess we're doing something okay.

We're going to have an endoscopy done on her this coming Monday just to make sure her upper digestive anatomy is okay. I'm concerned about her stomach size (is it unusually small? perhaps that's why she won't eat very much at one time?). S is concerned about her esophagus because of her choking when she drinks from a cup or straw. Between the two of us, we really do wonder if she's okay.

And if that comes back okay, then it's basically psychosomatic. Smashing! He thinks that Julia gets nauseous when she feels full, and that's why she doesn't eat much. No real medical reason for it, she's just being Julia!

He wants us to discontinue the night feedings. But...but... if she eats 1-3 ounces at a time every few hours, doesn't she need to eat during the night? He says that she'll make up for it during the day. So then I try to figure this out. If she doesn't eat that much at one time during the day because she feels nauseous, then who's to say that she'll make it up? And how can she make it up with her nauseous feeling? He says that it's likely just comfort that she wants during the night.

Now I never thought I'd be one of those people that immediately tries to justify my daughter's actions, but if she legitimately feels nauseous when she eats more than 3 ounces, then there's not enough time during daytime hours for her to eat her allotted calories. Her getting up 2-3 times a night to eat is legitimate. In fact, if she goes to bed having only eaten 10 or less ounces during the day, I will wake her up to eat during the night. Am I an enabler? I can certainly be called that, but I see it as my job to make sure she eats because she won't always let us know.

This 1-year old thing is full of lots of transitions:
*Transitioning to the toddler room and a whole different routine for her at daycare
*Transitioning from Alimentum to Gentlease or to Pediasure or to whole milk + Carnation Instant Breakfast. We have 3 alternatives, people! Of course we want to choose the course of least resistance and more potential for calories & nutrients.
*Transitioning to sleeping through the night. Not sure what this means with the whole nausea thing.
*Transitioning from bottle to sippy cup.
*Transitioning off of reflux medicine.

The first one isn't optional. The other four are optional. Which to tackle first? Right now I think we're just going to stay in our holding pattern and see how the endoscopy goes.

1 comment:

Leigh Ann said...

Don't worry Beth...I totally get where you're coming from!! Your logic about night time feedings makes perfect sense to me. I too wonder if her stomach is just small. And maybe as she grows, her tummy will too. My dad was born with a stomach about half the size of a normal person's. All his life, he has only been able to eat small amounts at a time. And dont' worry, he's never had to get up in the middle of the night to eat as an adult! So, if that is her issue, I am sure she will eventually be able to eat enough through the day to sustain her. Maybe the daycare can give her more to eat at snack time? Sort of like eating 5 small meals through the day instead of 3 large meals, ya know?
I will be waiting on pins and needles to hear what they say on Monday!!!