A Milkshake a Day...

Julianna had her 18 mos check-up on Monday and all went relatively well. The only area of concern is her weight gain (which for preemies can be a constant battle). As everybody knows, Julianna weighed 2lbs 11 oz when she was born (if you didn't know that, then you must have been living under a rock for the last 18 mos). She put on weight at a miraculous speed! The nutritionist at the NICU follow-up clinic would always tell us that she was not a typical preemie when it came to weight. She caught up to her actual age in a matter of months and even reached the 50th percentile by her 1st birthday, weighing in at 20lbs even.

But at her April check-up (15 mos) she had only gained 12 more ounces. Dr. M wanted to keep an eye on her weight, but wasn't too concerned. Now on Monday, she had actually lost weight, only weighing 20lbs 10 oz. It actually broke my heart to see she is now in the 6th percentile for weight. As other preemie moms will confirm, seeing your baby go up in percentiles is such an awesome thing!! Seeing them go down, especially this far, is disheartening.

Julianna eats like a mad woman! She is a virtual bottomless pit! So, Dr. M has decided to up her calorie intake. We get to supplement her food with all kinds of things. Her milk now gets Carnation Instant Breakfast added to it, she gets extra things added to her everyday meals, and I think the best thing is...she is supposed to have milkshakes every few days! That is by far her favorite change.

We go back in 6 weeks for a weight check. Dr. M said she is now concerned because even though Julianna's weight gain should be slowing down at this age, there is no reason for it to be so slow or for her to stop gaining.

I have a feeling I may be the one to gain weight...I can't buy Julianna a milkshake and not have one myself.

Julianna eats most of the hours she is awake...I'm not kidding. (check out the molars that are finally through!)