Will he grow?

In the past couple weeks, we’ve met lot of babies who are within +/- 6 months age bracket when compared to Nikki. And all of them look so big (at least tall), in spite of being small babies at birth. And this 9 pound, 21.7 inch baby looks so minuscule when compared to them. I know I shouldn’t be comparing, but I really can’t help. Is there anything I am doing wrong? Is there something I could have done better?

He is at the 10th percentile for his weight, has been there for the past 3 months. The growth curve started plunging deep downwards when he was 3 months. From birth, 90th percentile --> 80 --> 65 --> 40 --> 25 -->10. I hope to God that it doesn’t decline any further.

He is not a very poor eater. His hunger is almost always good, sometimes poor and sometimes very good. We started him on solids when he was 4 months, rice cereal once a day. By 5 months oats cereal was also introduced and he started having cereal twice a day. Around 5 ½ months, he was given the taste of fruits / vegetables. Carrots, sweet potatoes, apple sauce, bananas, peach. He ate bananas with interest for a couple of days. He loved his cereals (still loves) , but did not take to fruits/veggies well (not yet). We keep introducing him to fruits/veggies regularly, no luck yet.

We couldn’t introduce lot of variety in food to Nikki because of his eczema.The allergy tests are confusing to say the least. The skin tests and blood tests contradict each other for some food items. The blood tests tell he is allergic to almost everything other than Turkey, cod fish and carrot. Skin test for dairy was a clean negative. Allergist and the Ped are confused, they say he is an un-usual kid and we are going to repeat the skin tests again in a couple of weeks.

We met with the doc just 2 weeks back for his 9th month checkup and she does not seem to be very concerned about his growth curve. She usually is, but not this time. She told us they call this as a “Catch-down growth” pattern. Her reasoning is that he has never lost weight, he has been gaining albeit slowly and continues to follow the 10th percentile curve. His genes are catching up with him, he would grow up to be lanky like DH is what she says. I used to be convinced by that, but not now. Nikki is not a tall baby anymore. I have a feeling that the nurse did not measure him correctly. I have this doubt because just 1 week back, we had been to the Allergist and there he was measured 26.5 inches and suddenly in 7 days, he shows 28 inches at the Ped’s office. This cannot be true, he has not grown out of his clothes in the past 2-3 months. Hmm. I am really getting paranoid with his growth. I am going to buy a tape to measure him.

We (I & Paati) are trying to be creative in preparing food with the limited choices we have. He being a picky eater also does not help. His typical diet in a day would include 2 servings of ½ cup cereal, 1 serving Paruppu/Nei/keerai saadham, about 15 – 18 oz milk, 1 cup yogurt. He also has snacks - teeny bits of home made fruits / vegetables, shredded cheese any other finger food we like him to try. Sometimes we try home made soups and juices with him too. These snacks sometimes find their way into his mouth, sometimes don’t. We do it just for the sake of introducing new tastes/foods. Being a staunch vegetarian that I am, I am even ready to feed him meat if he will put on weight. I tried chicken with him a couple of times, his teeth are not out yet, so tried shredded pieces once and ground chicken another time. He did not like it much, only a couple of spoons and he started spitting it on my face. Well, I keep trying something or the other, not every day, at least every other day. Is there anything amiss in the way we are feeding Nikki?

I remember those days in the 1st 2 months of Nikki’s life when he looked like a poster baby, I couldn’t even hold his head while nursing because of immense wrist pain caused by De Quervain’s Syndrome and I would wish if he had born a couple of pounds lesser. After the first month visit, in one of the most painful moments, I even wished his weight gain slowed. But that was only a fleeting thought that occurred when all of my post partum troubles(that entails a post by itself) would play against me and would prevent me from even enjoying my baby. My wrist pain was so bad that I would hold Nikki only for feeding. I feel so guilty now for thinking like that then. Big SIGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Will he grow? Will he remain the way he is now? I know I am being stupid, but I do get such irrational fears. Have I become complacent and tired to try new things after the umpteen doctor visits and allergy tests? Should I spend more time with him, trying out new food? Will I do a better job if I stayed home? I know he gets the best care in the world with my Amma, but I cannot help thinking if things would be better if I stayed home. I am confused, GUILTY & tired. That was the reason there were no updates on my blog. And our trip to NY, NJ last weekend.

trials with solids - part1

Duddu kutti resists changes in food so valiantly, that he brings out everything from his stomach (even leftovers from his previous meal), swooshing the contents all over himself and me. He started on solids, mainly on rice & oats cereal when he turned 4 months. I let him taste bananas, peas, carrots, applesauce (all that is avaiable in Stage 1 Gerber & Beechnut brands) once a day. They were invariably welcomed with disgusted looks, followed by loud cries and the few attempts to force feed will result in spraying of food all over my face. (He had bananas a couple of times without crying) I thought, he is just starting on solids, let me not introduce too much variety before he gets used to this mode of eating... And so, I waited for 6 months...

now, as I try feeding him fruits & veggies not heeding to his cries, he has learnt vomiting stuff that he doesn't like. Sometimes he will vomit a good 1.5 hours after eating. I am not for force-feeding, but I want him to learn healthy eating habits (unlike DH).He loves his cereals though... even if I sneak in a little fruit in his cereal, he is able to find it out and he immediately attempts to vomit, or mimicks vomiting... MIL wants me to mix it with sugar, something I don't want to do... (again healthy eating habits - no salt, no sugar)... I tried making fruit purees myself at home instead of store bought jars, nothing works with him... Tried giving him idli, again a BIG NO NO... this time he vomited on our bed and I had to change my dress, give him a bath and change the sheets too.

I am not sure why he vomits though... one thing I can think of is food allergy... I have eliminated bananas from his diet because along with vomiting, his eczema rashes flared up... I doubt if he is so smart that he can willfully vomit when he wants to... ???? hmmmmmm........