18 pounds...

and counting!! We had Hannah's monthly GI appt. yesterday and I was pleasantly suprised to see her up to 18 pounds! That's a total weight gain of 2 pounds since October! However, her dr. was not that impressed. She is pleased to see that each time we go in (which we're down to montly visits now!) that she is consistently gaining a little here and there, but she really wants to see her gaining more in a month than what she is. Now that we know there is nothing majorly medically wrong with her and the few things they found are being treated, her dr. said she should be gaining a lot more than what she is. BUT, I had to defend her and say, but there is just not that much out there (that is enjoyable to a 17 month old) that she can eat that is high in fats and calories. She's really into peanut butter right now so we're doing that, avacados, humus, pasta with oil on it, blueberry muffins, chicken nuggets, dairy/soy free chewy bars (which she doesnt 100% care for), a few snacks, and then fruits and veggies...o yeah, and Chick fil A fries!!!!

But, even with what is available to her, she just doesnt eat much. And, drinking the Neocate, fills her little belly up so there's not a lot of room left for foods. So, to say the least, I am not letting the doctor's negative take on her weight gain get me down (I did for about an hour, but got over it!) We feel like she's healthy and totally trust the Lord that He's made her body perfect and she's just small. So, we'll keep encouraging as much food as she'll eat and try and add as many calories as we can, but she is far surpassing our expectations in all other areas of development so we know she's just fine! (and not to mention, she's only about 2 pounds smaller than Hailee was at this point! Hailee was almost 20 pounds and 32 inches at 18 months-Hannah was 18lbs today and 31.5 inches)

But, her dr. does want us giving her Duocal-a powder to mix into her milk and some other foods that adds calories and then she started her on a medicine called Periactin-an appetite enhancer. It can affect some children negatively with drowsiness and irritability, so we're going to give it a shot for a month and see how she reacts to it. Poor thing, we stop one med and start another one! We just stopped her Bactrim, which was her daily antibiotic med for her kidney reflux b/c we go in Feb. to see her Urologist and they wanted her off of it for a month to see if she does well not being on it (meaning, no UTI's). But, she's our little trooper and handles it all well. So, we started the Periactin last night and weather it's already taking affect or not I dont know, but she did eat a great lunch today (and I found a new pretzel stuffed w/ peanut butter at Walmart that she can eat!!!) and has been ASLEEP FOR OVER 2 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!! (that's the longest nap she's ever taken!) I think I like the drowsiness effect!! ;)
Call her small, petite, tiny, whatever you like, but to me, she's the most precious and sweet angel there is! (well, along w/ her sister!)