Operation Bulk Up

If you read through the long one year post about April you know that she needs to pack on some pounds.  Thus, we are full steam ahead on “OPERATION BULK UP” (O.B.U.).  In case anyone out there is curious how O.B.U. is progressing, I thought I’d do weekly updates (all updates will be in this post).  We started at 16 pounds 12 ounces.  Our goal is 18 pounds by March 3rd (her weight check appointment).

1 WEEK LATER (2/7/11):  Weighing in at 17 pounds 0 ounces.  We are roughly down to nursing three times a day.  Peanut butter has been added, so yeah for PB&J!  I think she could be a milk girl; she already seems to like it much more than Abe did when he started on whole milk.  I’ve also started adding wheat germ to her yogurt.  She did her morning yogurts great until Monday, when it took me an hour to get her to eat 4 ounces of it.  We continue to fight.  I am starting to wonder if she is just a slow eater.  I realized tonight that she was in her high chair from 5:30pm until 7:00pm, grazing on the different food I would put in front of her.  She was happy the whole time.  This could really cramp my “always on the go” style.  Maybe God is trying to tell me something…

2 WEEKS LATER (2/14/11): Weighing in at 17 pounds 0 ounces.  No gain.  Very disappointing.  We’re down to nursing two times a day though and I do feel like we’re doing much better with eating consistently.  I wanted to add one funny thing that April does that I forgot to mention in her one year update:  She always tastes her food (unless she knows immediately what it is) before she eats it.  She will hold the food in her mouth with her fingers, suck on it a bit, take it out, look at it, and then usually put it back in and eat it.  It’s pretty funny to watch.

3 WEEKS LATER (2/21/11): Weighing in at 17 pounds 5 ounces.  A little sketchy on the weight gain here.  Yesterday I weighed her and she had gained 0.4 pounds (6.4 ounces).  Today when I weighed her she had only gained 0.2 pounds (3.2 ounces).  So, I figured somewhere in the middle was probably more accurate.  At least she gained something!  Foods that I can guarantee she will eat include cheese, avocado, dill pickle and banana.  April also has added quite a few signs in the last couple of weeks.  She now has a total of six: cheese, more, please, milk, all done, and hat.  She has also added a verbal word – “Amen!”  It doesn’t really sound like “amen”; we only know that’s what she’s saying because of when she says it. =)  Oh, and we only have the before-nap nursing to remove before we are fully weaned.  I’m excited and sad about this all at the same time.

WEIGH IN TIME (3/3/11): We had April’s one month weight check and she came in much lower than I expected.  Official weight was 17 pounds 0.5 ounces.  They aren’t really concerned with exactly how much she weighs; they are more concerned with her maintaining a weight curve.  Unfortunately, with this low weight she continues to fall off her curve.  However, both pediatricians (we saw a different one in the same practice this time) think she looks great, is healthy, and it’s probably just her.  That she isn’t a big eater and some “petite” genes in there.  But, to be sure there isn’t something else going on, they did another CBC (blood test – just a finger prick) and that came back normal.  They also wanted to do a urine test.  This made our Thursday all about trying to catch some pee in a bag (I was adamant that I didn’t want to do a catheter)!  Not fun.  Big answer to prayer though that we were able to get enough!  We’ll get the results of the urine culture back on Monday.  Mainly they are checking to see if she has a urinary tract infection (UTI); evidentally they don’t always show signs (like a fever) if they have one.  If she does then they’ll put her on antibiotics.  I’ll keep you updated on Monday’s results.

UPDATE (3/7/11): April’s culture came back negative meaning she doesn’t have a UTI.  So what now?  We just continue trying to pump high calorie, high fat foods into her and hope she puts on some weight by her 15 month well check in April.  Prayers toward this would be appreciated.