Our Family

Our Family
"These are the children God has graciously given to me. (us)" - Genesis 33:5

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Medical Update

We haven't done a medical update in quite some time. This blog has become a great place for us to document the day-to-day life of our family as we live and grow with ALL of the many joys and hardships that come along with just being a family.


So, here it is.

Ethan

We continue to see Dr. Hofley every 6-8 weeks to keep an eye on the weight gain and growth pattern for both boys...but especially Ethan. Well, great news...he's still on the growth charts! Last time I posted their medical update Ethan was in the 1st percentile. Well, now he's on the 2nd percentile!! That's right! He actually gained almost 2 lbs. since his last visit! He is now a whopping 31.3 lbs. of soon to be 5 year old!! The more amazing stat though is his height...he is now 38.7 inches (3 feet 2 inches)! He's actually in the 5th percentile (I think) for that! He can now wear 4T pants...well mostly. He still has several 3T pants that fit him. It's amazing how many people will ask him how old he is and if he doesn't answer right away they will say "I bet your 3yrs old right?" He is just that tiny! I don't care though, his appetite has improved by leaps and bounds. He has become a walking stomach that desires food almost any time of the day! Yipppeee! His only meds. now are Prevacid for stomach upset, and the laxative that he's been on since he was 18 mos. old. We are hoping to continue to wean him off of the Prevacid, but will keep him on the laxative until he potty trains...which isn't happening yet.


Joshua

What a charmer! That smile has rescued that tiny tyrant from many a punishment!! :) This little man is doing well too. He is still in the first percentile even though he gained almost two lbs. since his last visit as well. He is now at 22.5 lbs! His height has improved as well...at 31.7 inches (2 feet 7 inches) and that puts him in the 2nd percentile for that. The doctor is very impressed with the improvement as most kids lose weight or don't grow much during the summer months leading into autumn due to their outdoor activity level and lack of sitting down for meals. Lucky for us our kids are grazers...they eat many more little meals during the day than actual sit down 5 course meals. I've also switched to using coconut oil instead of olive oil or butter in most of our cooking now which adds essential fatty acids to their diet. Plus it's just tasty! The only med. that Josh is still on is Prevacid for possible reflux. The good news is that we haven't had to nebulize him since we removed his 12 oz. of whole milk a day from his diet. We'll see what that does for his weight gain, but at this point the struggle and inevitable fight from Josh when we nebulize him just isn't worth the calorie intake from the milk. We are finding other ways to up his calorie intake right now so we'll see if it makes a difference at their next appt. on December 31st.

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