My Son is Under Weight
So I don’t know if I have really shared all that has been going on with Quinn. I am hesitant to share too much and give you TMI, but here goes! *Wink, Wink*
Quinn has been having issues with eating. Really these issues started when he was born. After he was born I tried to nurse him and it was like he had no idea how to eat. He wouldn’t suck. Because of his birth, the nurses said to just keep trying but not to worry to much as he was probably tired fromt he birth. So after 12 hours went by and he had still not eaten, I was told to pump. I pumped all the rest of the day and all night and seriously I gained a lot of respect for those mom’s who do it for a long time. That was one the hardest things mentally I have ever done.
After pumping for that long I was told he still wasn’t eating. It had been 28 hours at that point. They decided to tube feed him. When they did this he threw up all of what they gave him.
During those 28 hours he was gagging and choking on stuff. They thought it was just excess amniotic fluid so they gave me a suction to get it out when he choked. About 1/2 way through the day after he was born he began to choke and cough and then choked so much he started to turn blue. I called the nurse and they came down and suctioned him out. They then decided that they needed to suction out his stomach to get the gunk out. They did this and nothing came out. and he continued not to eat.
Miraculously at 29 hours after he was born one of the nurses got him to take a bottle. he spit up about 1/2 of what he ate, but he kept some down!!!!! We then continued to feed him a bottle each time giving him the option to nurse first then if he didn’t we would give him a bottle. After feeding him 3 or 4 times with the bottle the lactation consultant and I talked about it and decided to try to get him to eat using a tube and my finger. Teaching him to suck on skin with the hopes that he will nurse and not have to be bottle fed.
This type of feeding is interesting. You take a syringe and you hook a tube to the bottom of it. you put the pumped milk in to the syringe and you tape the end of the tube to your finger. you then put your finger in their mouth and every time they suck you push the syringe down and reward them for their effort with giving them some milk. He responded very well to that kind of feeding.
After 2 or 3 feeds with that type of feeding we moved the the tube to be there as he was latching on and nursing. At first he struggled but as soon as he tasted the milk he would suck and he got better every time.
All of this happened over the course of 2 days. We spent an extra day in the hospital and we were able to get him nursing exclusivly. That work was all worth it, but it didn’t mean that it was easy.
Over the next month we struggled off and on with his eating and his latch. There were times he still would not eat. I had to give bottles every couple days to get him to keep eating. He continued to grow and got stronger and eventually he ate well and consistently.
We went to his 2 month appointment and he had gained a couple pounds and seemed to be out of the danger zone. He weighed 11 pounds! that was great so we waited until his 4 month appointment. At that appointment he still weighed….. 11 lbs. that made him 1% for weight. The dr started asking me tons of questions. Were my other kids like this? has he been crying a lot lately? did he sleep ok? all of which I answered no, no, yes. Because of his issues before he told me he wanted to run some tests and see if his blood sugar and other things are ok.
They did a blood test and a urine test both of which came back normal.
So here we are. My son is “normal” but under weight. He is SO skinny! I have always had thin kids, but this guy is a stick. See him next to Erin Chase’s baby who is 1 month older then him? Stick legs! Don’t you just want to pinch Cuatro’s (Erin’s son) cheeks???? So cute! But I digress….
So we are getting his weight checked this week to see if he has grown any. If he has then we are good to go and he is just a little guy. If not then we are back to testing for his reflux to see if his body isn’t absorbing things correctly or if he is spitting up too much of the milk.
Have any of you had under weight kids? what did you do?
P.S. Any ideas for skinny boy nick names???? We just call him skinny for now, but I would like something more fun. 😉
Oh, Melissa, your son is adorable! And he was so good at the conference! My youngest son, David, has always been smaller than my other kids. He hasn’t had any special testing because of his size and he is really a normal, wild little boy…just a little smaller. 🙂 I hope everything turns out well at your next appointment and your little guy gains a little weight.
Thanks Sandra. He is a great baby. I couldn’t have asked for a better one.
My Miss Lilly was an underweight baby but we didn’t have nearly the amount of feeding issues that you did. She was actually the best when it came to figuring out how to nurse. None the less, her doctor was concerned for how small and skinny she was. There was one appointment where she actually lost weight instead of gaining. When that happened the doctor sent us to children’s hospital for all kinds of test including an EKG and other heart tests. Everything came back normal and she has since continued to grow but still be very skinny.
Glad everything was ok. When he didn’t eat so long in the hospital they started testing his brain to check and see if it was all working right. everything came back normal there too. So I am not super worried, but every time I see how skinny he is I think… I should feed you more!
Oh Melissa, I feel you. I was so excited to go to Addie’s last well-check appointment because I was so sure she’d gained a ton of weight and nothing. We moved the scale, turned it off and on, and it still was the same weight. Emma was the same way. She has never been over 9% for her weight. I just look at it like I have little babies. Hang in there. Go with your instincts, and try not to worry about the numbers too much.
Thanks Cam, I keep wondering if the scale was off but I know it really isn’t. you can see how skinny he is, but he has got the best personality! So I am trying to focus on that and not worry to much. It is good to hear others stories of how they have dealt with it though.
poor little guy- hang in there…chicken legs
LOL! They really are skinny like chicken legs!
Taylor is still super skinny. I fed her so much (nursing) that I would make her puke sometimes and then I would feel so bad, and then I would think, oh no, maybe she is hungry now. My first two even dropped off the charts in their first year. I’m a lot less paranoid than I once was, and even my younger kiddos have been bigger babies, but they have all balanced out to about the same weight per age.
Thanks for your comments Sarah. Because he is eating and sleeping well, I am not super concerned. The only thing that concerns me is his reflux. It keeps me wondering if he will ever get over that. He is such a happy little trouper though. Best baby ever!
I had 4 skinny children but they didn’t have reflux issues. Their Shaw cousins are skinny too. They still are skinny and they are grown up now. Our Daniel was wearing a newborn shorty outfit at 9 months old. My first skinny child worried the physician when at a year old, she was under 21 pounds. He recommended feeding her cream, butter, sugar and jam on everything possible. It worked, she got up to the 5 percentile. One of our daughters stayed under the 5 percentile until now at age 22. How about calling Quinn popsicle? That sounds fun. I do hope he stays his healthy and happy self. He really is adorable.
Congratulations on homeschooling. I homeschooled my kids for 12 years. I am sold on it. Try to join the Liahona support group if you can. http://www.ochomeschooling.com/liahona/ see also ldshomeschoolinginca.org/support.html Liahona is way fun, and so nourishing to the soul. They meet every Wednesday. They alternate every other week field trips and park days. On park days we did either hands-on science days or living history days. Some years we studied different cultures. One year we used the book called “Children are Children are Children”. Each park day was a party with a different country’s theme. We sang, danced and ate that food. I still use some of the recipes! France days had the best food! The worst food (ha ha) was medieval days, but that day had the best activities! We ate with our hands! We did a May Day dance in costumes and had different booths like a little Renaissance Faire. One year we followed up with a trip to a big Renaissance Faire.
I did an Ellis Island day with some members of our ward. We also went to Riley’s Farm and Riley’s Living History in Oak Glen. Members of the church – they do Pioneer Handcart re-enactments as well as civil war ones. Our stake went their for the Pioneer Trek. You can go through their stationary old fashioned farm life site any day. I’ve done all three types of days. They have hay rides, candle making, rope making, apple picking, animals, cider pressing ect. It is quite a full day. Oak Glen is so small, you can find Riley’s just by driving through on the main road. One year we got together and put our kids in archery lessons. Another year our ward homeschoolers did a Thanksgiving Pageant for our families. SO FUN!
one of my sisters kiddos is tiny, and doctors have always tried to find problems. None have been found, she is in fourth grade healthy ande thriv ing, but still smallest kid in family , her first grade sister, and kindergarden brother are both much bigger than her.
One of my boys had severe reflux, he was put on a thick mixture of cereal andformula, and had to be held at a forty five degree angle while he digested. He’s now 6ft.5, and very healthy.