Gaining on you

Emmie had her one-month follow-up appointment with the GI doctor today. Seeing as I have been stuffing food or a boob in her face every time she turns around, I had no fear about her weight gain.

Little Miss Failure To Thrive topped the scales at a hefty 15 lbs 6 ounces, which is 1.5 pounds more than she weighed a month ago, and puts her in the 12th percentile for weight. Go Emmie!

She's also up to the 75th percentile for both height and head circumference. So I would say she's thriving. Doctor said she looks great and wants to see her gain even more as she has some catching up to do.

He told us to keep doing what we're doing with the food and even bump it up a little bit, giving her more food at each sitting.

Unfortunately, that doesn't apply to me. I don't get to eat as much as I want at any sitting. I also don't get to eat any dairy yet. He said this is on the young side to outgrow the milk protein intolerance; most kids outgrow it between 12-14 months.

Oh pizza, how I miss you. And chocolate shakes. And grilled cheese.

I am going to weigh about 300 pounds after I wean this kid with all the forbidden foods back on the list.

Feeling like a failure

Today Emmie had her appointment with the pediatric gastroenterologist. The GI doc asked a lot of questions, examined her and of course measured and weighed her.

While she went from 13 lbs 11 ounces to 14 lbs 2 ounces in the last three weeks, she's still not where she should be in terms of weight. Her weigh-in today placed her in the 5th percentile, which also got her the official label of Failure To Thrive. Except, the GI doc said, she appears to be thriving. So he is saying it's in name only at this point.

We also found out our pediatrician mis-measured her at her last appointment and her height is only in the 50th percentile, not greater than the 95th. So she's apparently not going to be doing shoe endorsements for Nike any time soon. She's just average, I guess.

We discussed the silent reflux, and he said he does not think she has it. He told us to stop the Zantac, as it probably wasn't doing anything. Although I am sure she will miss the spectacular grape taste twice each day, we discontinued it tonight.

He also wants to run a few tests, specifically blood, sweat, stool and urine in addition to an ultrasound of her stomach. He said he doesn't expect to find anything, but it's better to have them done.

His most interesting question came in reference to her suspected milk protein intolerance. When I told him I had cut out all dairy and soy, he said I also need to cut out nuts and shellfish. Apparently, the shrimp skewers with peanut sauce are off the menu from now on. But I digress. After we discussed my limited diet, he asked how committed I was to breastfeeding on a scale of 1-10. I of course said 10 and that I would do whatever I needed to do to make it to a year. He was supportive and said that was fine, he just wanted to let me know we could try a hypoallergenic formula if I didn't want to be so restricted.

For now, he wants us giving her three or four meals of solids a day, following up with breastfeeding. He also said to feed her on demand, no matter what time of day or night. His exact words were, "Let her eat."

So we're going to bust out the avocado and applesauce mixture that Jack enjoyed so much, I am going to whip out the boob at the slightest whif of interest and we'll be back for a follow-up in a month. Until then, we'll just be being over here, failing to thrive.

Have your vegan cake and eat it too

Vegan cake. It just sounds wrong doesn't it? I mean who doesn't want to make a cake with eggs and butter? The terrorists that's who. And now, they've won. Because I am right now -- as I type this -- eating a piece of vegan cake AND IT IS DELICIOUS.

Cookies and Cream, if you must know, from Chicago Diner via Whole Foods. And honest to God, it's really good. And I keep thinking how awesome it is that I can eat something like this and it's dairy-free. It's not soy-free, but I am taking it one step at a time with Emmie's supposed intolerances. Let's see if dairy is the culprit before we go rushing to blame soy as well. Although 60 percent of children with a dairy intolerance also have a soy intolerance. Lalalalala, I can't hear myself typing that. Lalalala not listening.

Vegan totally means there's no calories too, right? Because if I am denied the sweet sweet goodness of butter and eggs, it better not add 10 pounds to my ass.