Update on Slobber Rocket

I have been avoiding this post like the plague because... well, he is okay and I was angry by the advice I had gotten. But... thankfully for right now it looks like my little guy is quite healthy. All of his blood work and tests have come back within normal ranges. He is still tiny, obviously, but for now I think I am going to stop stressing so much about his size and do what I know is best for him.

He saw a GI and a speech therapist as I have mentioned and it was determined that he has some texture issues that I am now working extra hard on with him at home. I thought "der, you don't say" because he gags on textured food like crazy. But slowly he is learning to eat and enjoy a few new foods. He still hates drinking from a cup but sometimes he does it a little. We will get there.  The GI says he is not getting enough calories and that I need to stop nursing him and switch to all pediasure. Also do things like add butter, cream, and other high calorie stuff to his foods. I know enough about nursing and eating to know that sounds like a very bad plan. Maybe that would make him gain weight but I know it wouldn't help him learn good eating habits. He is getting enough calories based on his wet diapers, bowel movements, general disposition, etc anyway. I also don't want to add so many extra calories to his diet that it covers up a problem. If he needs an additional 500 calories a day to just gain weight normally, well that isn't normal! IF he is healthy and just small... that is okay. Right? I don't really see a problem with healthy but small. So I decided to keep nursing him on demand and add more new foods to his diet and healthy fats as he tolerates. So we have been doing lots of avocado and whole milk yogurt and healthy stuff like that. I really don't want a 3-4 yr old in a few years who refuses to eat food unless it has butter or cream or sugar in it. He has recently hit a growth spurt. He grew almost an inch in the last month and maybe a half a pound. He went for a weight check today and they said he didn't gain any weight but he was 7.9 kilos with is clothes off and about 7.7 with his clothes off last month. Hey! that is progress right :) I think they wrote down his weight with clothes on last time. I know he was under 17 lbs last time. So my best guess is about 7 or 8 oz in a month. And you can really tell he has gotten taller. He no longer fits into 6 month sleepers! The NP today was much kinder to me and definitely made me feel at ease about him. I think sometimes when I get a bad vibe with people I need to sit back and realize maybe they are having a crappy day. She says he looks great and I need to relax. She is probably right but being a parent is a little stressful sometimes. All in all today went much better than his last several appointments. I am glad to see that what I am doing is okay for him and that I don't have to resort to anything counter-intuitive to help him gain weight. Small but healthy is fine. I will keep on keeping a close eye on him to make sure that is exactly what it is but for today I am very happy with the news that he is small but healthy.