Weight Check - The Long Version

Annive had her weight check this morning to follow up on the percentile loss from 4 to 6 months. Unfortunately it didn't go as well as I had hoped. The good news is that developmentally, Annive is exactly where she should be for a 7 month old and that isn't even taking into account being a preemie! Her heart and lungs sound good, and she's not showing symptoms of failure to thrive. The bad news is that she isn't gaining weight. At 4 months she was in the 14th percentile for her weight; at 6 months she had dropped to the 4th percentile. The weight check today showed that she now weighs 13 pounds 4 ounces, a 4 ounce gain from 6 months, but has dropped to the 2nd percentile in weight.

The doctor is very concerned at this point, not because Annive is small but because the rate of weight gain has decreased significantly in the past 3 months. Dr. R said this means there is some underlying cause to the weight loss. So, now we're trying to find out what is causing this. Annive had lab work done after her appointment today to check her thyroid (since I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis), a CBC, and a comprehensive metabolic panel. Dr. R said the CBC is to check for anemia, and the metabolic panel is to check for autoimmune diseases and/or inflammatory diseases. The results from these 3 blood tests will help rule things out and hopefully point the doctor in a direction for further testing. If these come back normal, then I think Annive will have a urine test with a catheter. We should have results tomorrow and hopefully a plan.

Lab work was awful. They needed 3 vials of blood but Annive doesn't weigh enough to get 3 full vials. As the phlebotomist said, "They're going to have to share. She can't give this much blood at her weight." Last time Annive had blood work she was having her bilirubin level checked, and they used her heel which is what I was expecting this time as well. Wrong! I had to restrain Annive and keep her still, one phlebotomist held her arm perfectly straight, and the other inserted the butterfly needle into her arm to fill the vials. They couldn't find a vein, so they were digging around in her arm and had to stick her 4 times before they could finally get a good vein. It took every bit of my strength to not cry. As I said, awful.

From the first appointment with Dr. R, she's been honest with us. She has a lot of experience, is a mother herself, and has a great bedside manner. When another doctor noticed the crease at the base of Annive's spine and said there was a possible issue with it, Dr. R told me not to worry because her experience said that it was just a crease. Today Dr. R said that "this is something you need to be concerned about."

So we are praying for an answer tomorrow, for no more tests, for whatever it is to have a simple and painless cure. Regardless of the outcome, we are blessed.