Medicines, Doctors, and Tests

The boys had there check up with Dr. Hofley on Friday morning. It was rescheduled for that time because the doctor canceled due to illness earlier in the week. We were hoping it would work to our benefit, and that a little Thanksgiving dinner would help "buff up" our boys. No such luck.

They seem to be stuck exactly 10 lbs. apart from each other. Joshua weighed in at 18 lbs. 13 oz, and Ethan was 28 lbs. 4 oz. Okay so not exact, but close enough. They each grew slightly in the height department, but not enough to really mention. To Joshua's credit, he did have that nasty ear infection and didn't eat much for close to a week. Even now he still isn't eating much. Of course he's also a picky toddler who is now walking around everywhere burning off all of those precious calories. Ah timing.

As for Ethan the doc thinks he's hit a medicinal plateau. He's been on cyproheptadine for quite awhile now, and has most likely built up a tolerance to it. So, we are to take him off of that for a week every two months to help jump start his system. We will keep him on his Prevacid, because when we tried weaning him of that, his stomach started hurting him again. However, we have been given the okay to try weaning him off of the Pepcid. It would be nice to get rid of one of his meds. The other medicine he's on, glycolax for his stools, we have also dropped down on the dose. We were at 3 tsps a day, and now are at 2 tsps. a day. We have to help his body's musculature get used to pushing and doing what it was designed to do for waste removal. As of right now, the medicine does all the work for him, which may be why we still haven't been able to potty train him. His body doesn't know how to function properly yet, so he certainly won't be able to figure it out until it does. It's become quite clear to us what a slow process this has become. If you do the math, it means three in diapers in just a few more weeks...not exactly what we were planning...but hey such is life.

We also discussed what to do as far as any testing for the new baby. The doctor feels it would be silly at this time to do any testing on her until she is older simply because it isn't going to change what we will do with her. We plan on keeping her gluten free, so other than statistical reasons, there really isn't any point to it. Besides all Joshua had was the DNA test which was negative, and yet he's had some gluten issues. This is why I love the boys' docs. They keep it simple, and only do what is in the best interest of the child and the family. It's comforting to know my children's health is in good hands.

The good news is we don't have to go back to see her for 3 months this time. Which works out well because Ethan's 4 yr check up and Joshua's 18 mos. check up are in January, so they still get their weight checked on in between. There's always someone keeping track of where they are health wise, which is nice. It's also nice that those checks are getting fewer and farther between. What will we do with all that spare time......???:)