Another Jacob Update

Yes, we haven't posted in a while, but the month of December has been a little crazy with family in and out and Christmases to celebrate, along with places to be, and preschool concerts, birthday parties and playdates to attend. Anyway, in a few days I will sit down a do a whole bunch of post dated posting with pictures, of course!

But I wanted to get this post out so everyone knows what is going on with the Jacob boy.

This past Tuesday, Jan 4th 2011 (yikes!) the Gerhard family made the trek to Saskatoon for the appointment with the paediatric endocrinologist. The doctor's name....Dr. Best....had to be a good omen right? Before we headed to our appointment we got a long awaited visit with Tracy, Joshua and Annabel. It was a great time, during which Jacob refused to nap, and all the kids played well together. Tracy watched Sophia while the rest of three of us headed off to meet Dr. Best. Many, many, many thanks goes to Tracy and the kids.

There was no wait to see Dr. Best, which is unusual. He was super nice and Jacob was not in the least bit fussy or scared by the man. Actually, he very happily went trotting (which is exactly what he does, trot...not walk) after the doctor in order to get measured and then off to the room. Don't ask what his height was, I didn't catch it. The doctor also measured David and myself as well, to compare etc.

The doctor checked Jacob over thoroughly. Weighed him (8.54 Kg (18.83 lbs)) --not a lot of change in the last little while. He also plotted all his measurements since birth and drew them on the standard weight/height/age chart. Essentially what he showed us was that Jacob grew really well during the first six months of life and then started to slow down and fall off the chart. As Jake's weight gain slowed down and almost stalls, so does his height. Usually this is an indication of nutrition problems. Well, okay, he is a difficult kid to get to eat. He refuses and eats small portions and is really slow when he finally decides to eat. We've always been concerned about it, but never considered him "malnourished". Most endocrine problems show up as small stature, heavy weight. Short and wide, so to speak. And this is not our problem. Our two year old kid is still wearing 12-18 months and they fall off him. Oy.

So, Dr. Best is thinking that it might be a combination of things. He did say that there is a common growth pattern that shows up in some children that has them growing really well for the first six months, then slows down between 1 and 6 years, at which point they start to catch up. It also could be a version of growth patterns in our families. The Doctor spent a lot of time looking at Jacob's hands and feet. I think he was evaluating bone stuff. He measured our heads and J's head too. He's got a small head which is also a concern. Well, that small head is pretty smart.

Anyway, he did mention that J looks and acts very healthy. One of the things we are to do is to try to get as much food into him as we can. Fatty and calorie dense foods. Replace his water with milk or juice. Butter, full fat milk, high fat cheese, etc. I am trying not to feel like a bad parent, really I am. I know it's not my fault. There might be something more going on. We will wait to see the geneticist as well. The other thing he did was send us out to get x-rays of Jake's wrists and hands, and a blood test.

The x-ray is to look at bone age and see if the bone age does or does not match with Jacob's actual age. If there is a discrepancy then there is something else going on. The blood test was to rule out things...like Celiac and other stuff (not really too sure). Jacob did really well for the x-ray and not so great for the blood test ...he sat still but cried like the dickens (thankfully, David took him in!). He came out and pulled up his sleeve so I could see where he got poked. Way too cute.

So now we wait and see. We wonder if there isn't a metabolism issue or something keeping Jacob from getting everything he needs out his food. Who knows.

Dr. best will call us when he has something to say. I have heard that he is really good at following up.

So there we are...working on trying to grow this kid big. Thank you for all your love, support and care. It means the world to us.