Monday, March 03, 2008

Seeking Free Medical Opinion

Will has been experiencing a lack of weight gain that has me feeling a little nervous that maybe he really does have CF after all. Does anyone know if the newborn screen has any percentage of false negatives?

He nurses well, but he has fallen from the 50 percentile at birth to 25th at 2 months to 5th percentile at 4 months. He is 75 percentile for length, though. I see other babies half his age who are so much bigger and rounder. My little guy has the body of a newborn. It is really sad. We are starting him on solids, so maybe this will resolve itself. He has been fighting a terrible cough for months now and has even coughed up plegm. I've told the doctor about this, but she has never expressed any concern that it could be something serious.

I realize that he could just be a winter baby who has been fighting viruses and that has contributed to the weight loss. Most likely. But as a mom who has suspected meningitis and leukemia when the illness was nothing more than flu, I've got myself a little worried. I will voice these concerns to my poor pediatrician in a few weeks if he continues to not gain weight despite the new diet, but I admit I am feeling a little embarrassed to do so after all my anxious diagnosing in the past. Medical professionals in the readership, any ideas?

8 comments:

Lyndsay said...

I'll pass this along to Erik, who isn't that close to being a dr., but I do know he's been studying CF, so it's at least fresh on his mind. He's all about dispensing free advice at this stage.

Ashley said...

My only medical advice comes from google, but the paranoid mother in me suggests seeing another pediatrician for a second opinion. I'm sure it's nothing, but maybe that could put your mind at ease. (This is a case of do what I say, not what I do. I have a hundred strange ailments going on that I keep putting off seeking medical attention for.)

Tiana said...

No worries. Unless he is actually LOSING weight, I am sure he is fine. This comes from the mommy of two fabulous kids who both have and are having weight fluctuations. Breast fed babies tend to fluctuate. They grow, they plateau. Your milk is changing, they are changing. Ellie didn't grow her last appt, and, well you have seen her, she is a tiny baby, but she is healthy, and I have that from two pediatricians. My visiting teachers husband is a pediatrician and just did an enrichment class, and this was one of the topics. He said you really can't get too crazy by the growth charts. Now, I don't know Will's complete history, but I am sure things are okay. Don't be afraid to bug your pediatrician though. At one point Ches went from 10 weeks to 24 weeks growing a couple inches, but only gaining one pound. My ped did have some tests done just to make sure, but as he thought, Ches was just fine and still is! Sorry, I know this is a long post, but only because I have gone through this twice! I am not so worried about Ellie's growing, non growing habits this time around.

alexandra said...

Thanks everyone. The dr is concerned about the weight issue and wants him to come in for periodic weigh-ins and wants me to start giving him bottles of formula in addition to nursing and starting solids.

Momo Cannon said...

I am a first class worrier, Alexandra. It doesn't really get easier the more children you have or the older they are. I have been grateful for a husband who reminds me to be faithful and not fearful and to get expert advice as soon as possible so you don't worry unnecessarily. We will continue to pray for Andrew and Will's health. Love, Momo

Desi said...

I just found your blog today and I recently saw a comment on another blog that you might be interested in. I hope you don't mind me peeking around a bit. I'm pretty new to blogging, is it bad to post a link in the comments to someone else's blog like this? I hope not. Anyway, all this just to say her milk had dried up so maybe that is something you could look into to see if that is the issue.

http://hollywoodflakes.blogspot.com/2008/02/anonymous-comment-day-your-biggest.html

"When my son was 6 months old I told myself he was getting taller. Really he was loosing weight. He lost 2 pounds between 4 and 6 months old. I shouldn't have been so lazy when my Mother in Law kept asking about it and just gotten it checked out. As a result my sweet little baby was subjected to MRI's, Xrays, and all sorts of needles. Come to find out... my milk had dried up because I wasn't drinking enough water (another mistake). I will ALWAYS listen to my instinct now aka the Spirit. Even now I can't look at picture of him when he was between 4-6 months old because of the guilt I feel whenever I do. I wonder sometimes if because of me he has a tendancy to over eat ingrained in him because I practically starved him for about a month. He is now 4 years old."

Lauren said...

I would go to a specialist - just to be sure. It is probably a dietary issue - J. was allergic to milk. Also, my friend has a great website - it is on my blog roll 'what to feed your kids'. If there is a possibility of dietary problems you should request a delayed immunization schedule (if you read her post on immunizations and the parents that just won a lawsuit because there child developed autism from his immunizations you will understand why I recommend this).

cheers!

Rach and Todd said...

Hey, Alexandra! It's Rachel Nelson. I just found your blog and saw this post about Will's weight. When Audrey was born she was in the 80th percentile for weight and at her 2 mo. check up she was in the 10th percentile. The doc said he wasn't concerned yet, but that we should just watch to make sure she didn't lose weight. As the month went on she just looked so skinny to me so about 3 weeks ago I started givingher formula in addition to nursing and yesterday at her 4 mo. check up she was just below the 50th percentile - yay! Anyway, I'm sure Will's fine...he just might need some extra calories. He's adorable!