Dr. Report with gratuitous cute kid photos at the end...

We started our day with a lovely luncheon/shower at my school. Yummy salad lunch in honour of Earth Day, a delicious cake in honour of Benjaminh, sweet friends and a generous gift...I'll show everyone the big ticket item I'm purchasing for the growing boy once it is purchased.

Then...
Went to the specialist...
Loved her....
Little guy loved her...
Verdict?

He has gone from being 75th % in weight on the North American charts on March 3rd to 25th % today. Seems alarming when you look at these numbers but it translates into a very small weight loss in terms of actual pounds 20.5 to 20.12. It is a loss though and the new doctor wants to be aggressive in solving Benjaminh's issues (I'm so in to this).

So, looks like we have a case of reflux which has pretty much cleared up by his (nearly) 11th month but rears it's ugly head when he is feeling unwell with puking, chronic night coughing and back arching pain (he feels unwell when he is teething...which seems to be most of the time).

Reports from the agency say that on 5 different visits to the orphanage in October, when Benjaminh would have been 4 months old, the nanny carried him everywhere. Never put him down. He slept in a hammock way up at the end (the orphanage version of propping him up I'm guessing). Both of these behaviours may indicate that if he was laid on his back the reflux flared up (which is certainly my experience).

When I picked him up in January I was told that he was sickly and needed very thick formula fed in small 1 or 2 oz servings hourly.

So, I will continue to thicken his formula for drinking aiming for 20 oz per day actually staying inside him (4 5 oz bottles)...and I will focus my attention on providing iron rich high calorie solids in 3 meals per day + snacks.

This translates into a 3 tablespoon meal that is at least 2 thirds meat/cheese/yogurt and/or fortified infant cereal and one third fruits and veggies. Veggies should be cooked with olive oil and may contain butter to add to the calories.

He is on a mild reflux med.

On Friday we will go to the hospital's children's ward to meet with the head Speech Pathologist for a feeding study...I take him hungry with all of his various nipples and bottles and she watches him feed looking for signs of poor suck, swallow, breathe reflexes.

I'm guessing and the doctor agrees that the very thick oatmeal consistency of the orphanage food and the cut off nipple has likely delayed his development of effective sucking mechanisms. Sucking muscles are also speech muscles. And the whole tongue tie thing comes into play here as well though it seems to be correcting itself.

Finally we wait for our invite for a barium study which could take up to 6 weeks...where the little manh drinks barium fortified beverage and has his insides photographed to make sure the passageway is intact and flowing correctly. It will also show the functionality of the valve between the esophagus and the stomach.

I was able to show the specialist a short video of 'aspiration' in action and she agrees that there may be more to this than meets the eye and wants to eliminate possible sources of trouble.

I inquired about her thoughts on the remaining adoption blood work that needs doing. She had very strong opinions about the whole "vein less" issue. She couldn't find any either. She wants us to wait until we have the above tests back in case she needs a battery of blood work done as well so that it can all be done at once. We would travel in to sick kids for that.

She also requested that I not let labs poke at his feet as a child with no veins needs the foot veins to remain intact for emergency IV's, if ever required.

Tonight (and every minute of every day the rest of the time) I am so very thankful that Benjaminh was in an orphanage with an attentive and caring nanny with the both skills and the time to attend to his needs so closely. His early care has given us a threshold of chub to see us through getting him well and transitioning to solids for his nutrition. It has also provided me with a son that seeks comfort from mama in new situations like the specialist's office, can be easily calmed when he has had a choking episode, loves to be held close to be fed and allows mama to do all the bottle holding.

Oh, and he is also cute as pie...

and in other news he pulled himself up for the first time tonight and then proceeded to do it ALL OVER THE HOUSE.

Yikes!