Friday, November 20, 2009

Saturday, November 21, 2009 - Update

Our little tornado. . .Even when sick, she can destroy a room in 5 seconds flat.

I have been determined to help Olivia gain weight. I had started her on Pediasure to help bulk her up, but then she got sick and threw up. She always throws up when taking Pediasure and I never know if is truly the Pediasure or just a coincidence. There always seems to be another possible reason. So, I stopped it earlier this week. When I weighed her tonight, she was 20.3 lbs. So, she lost weight. I'm starting to worry that she has some growth hormone deficiencies. I just want her to be 23-24 lbs or at least be in the 5th percentile because she just isn't growing. She's very active, however, and learning new things every day so that tells me I shouldn't be TOO worried. Anyway, I'm thrilled to have my husband back home! He's thrilled to be home (and never wants to be sick while out of town again.) I just wish Olivia and I were feeling better. . .

2 comments:

23 weekers said...

Have you ever thought about using Duocal? It is a powder that you can add to the formula. It has no taste or smell and disolves very quickly. One scoop (about a tsp) adds 25 calories. This can be added to food or drink.

I know this won't make you feel any better, but Kinnick is only 21.4 lbs and Carver is 22 lbs on a good day. They are tube fed, and still don't gain weight. We have started the Duocal - hoping it will help.

abby said...

I know that Hallie has particular food issues, but she also always had trouble with Pediasure and vomiting was much worse when she was on it than when she was not. If Olivia is ok on regular milk, what about mixing some of the unsweetened condensed stuff into regular milk to bulk up its calories? Sometimes 30 calories an ounce (as in Pediasure) is a problem for kids to digest, but 25 or 27 is not. You can regulate how much extra you add with the canned stuff and that way get her to an optimal level in terms of more calories staying inside her. Or you could add duocal (we did this for Hallie in her fruit for a bit, but she tastes the difference so it didn't work so well). Or you can just add some carnation instant breakfast to regular milk (again, you can regulate how much you add) to add both calories and more nutrients (but also more sugar---that's the problem with Pediasure, too). Good luck with this. I know how frustrating the eating/weight thing can be.