Jade is back to not doing as well. She’s certainly eating better, but the weight she gained over the past week (till Sunday) is seemingly slowly dropping back. She was up to 10 lbs, 6 oz on Sunday, but now, despite eating better, she’s down to 10 lbs, 3.5 oz. I know that doesn’t seem like a lot, and really it’s not earth shattering, but with everything going on weight loss is weight loss and not good, and to see her steadily, lose half an ounce to an ounce a day, is disheartening and really hard.
She’s otherwise in good spirits, but I am noticing her seeming to nap more, which has me a little worried. My guess is it’s her way of conserving energy. But boy when she’s awake, she’s a little spitfire, which is good.
I have a call in to her pediatrician, and am hoping to hear from her tomorrow, but she also has an appointment Monday, so either way, we’ll see what the pediatrician says about the gain and then loss.
I’m hoping we can, at the very least, try a new medication. I am hearing a lot about how incredibly weight fickle Zantac is, and I believe it based on how often we’ve had to change her dosage, based on a gain of just a couple ounces. This results in an endless cycle of her not doing well, upping her dosage, then she gains some weight, and starts doing poorly again because she’s outgrown the dosage. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.
I’m hoping to see if we can change her to something a little more reliable and less weight sensitive.
As far as the weight loss, I have two theories, but we’ll see what the doctor says.
Theory one is that it’s the heart issues finally (as the cardiologist puts it) “declaring themselves.” One of the things the doctor has been looking for is for her body mass to finally get to a point that she cannot sustain it nutritionally – which is the signal that it’s time to operate.
Theory two, based on my own similar issues as an infant, is that her dairy and/or wheat allergy, and the difficulty in keeping even trace amounts of even dairy and wheat derived additives out of my diet (it’s really harder than you might think) have lead to some digestive issues that are preventing her from properly absorbing nutrition. Of course that could resolve itself now that I’m becoming ever more vigilant about reading labels and being careful what I eat, but just the same, I’m hoping it’s theory one and not theory two, because, in a way, I would feel like it was my fault if things I’ve eaten, have caused this in her.
Then again, maybe it’s both things.
Like I said, thankfully she *is* eating much better, but we just need to figure out why the sudden switch in gears.
I’ll post another update after we talk to her pediatrician. Meanwhile, please pray that she’ll start gaining again, and that I’ll trust God and not let those panicky worried thoughts take over (which I’m very much prone to, as a mother).
