Mama called the doctor and the doctor said...
We went for C's 3-year check up today. He is 29.4 pounds, 39.5 inches tall. Apparently this is 24th percentile for weight and 89th percentile for height according to the online calculator I used. I forgot to ask the Dr. for the official stats. Not sure about his height, but when he moved in we weighed him at 24 pounds and some change so he has gained 4 or 5 pounds since he has lived with us. So that's good!
I talked to the doctor about ALL my concerns about C:
His skinny arms and legs and distended-looking belly
Tantrums
The 16-hours of sleep he often gets in a day and how it seems like it is too much for his age
If he is getting enough calcium since he doesn't drink milk very often
Walking on the arches of his feet
Lack of coordination (my perception; may not be accurate)
Consistent and constant constipation
I also asked the Dr. for a thyroid test, and he obliged. He said he is going to run "other tests" also, not sure what those consist of. I was a little out-of-sorts, as we waited over 30 minutes to see the doctor and I had C, Y and baby M all to wrangle and keep happy for a decent length of time. C was being slightly uncooperative and it took 4 nurses to draw his blood. Not that I can blame him for that I suppose...but he also did not want to have his height measured, his weight measured, did not want to sit on the exam table, etc. Quite the opinionated and obstinate one!
So anyway, other than offering some tests, some vitamins and some more poop medicine, the doctor did not really have any advice or anything else to say. I am used to my OBGYN, who is the most helpful and wonderful doctor in the world - if you tell her a concern, she will jump right in and say why that might be happening, what causes it, if you should worry about it, what you can do to help it, etc etc. She is great. I wish the boys' doctor was a little more helpful! If these tests don't reveal anything I think I will take C for a second opinion, if that's even possible - he has Medicaid and I am not really sure how all of that stuff works.
I also called our school district to have him evaluated by the Early Childhood Development people. I might be kind of paranoid about his clumsiness and his walking and stuff, and other people don't see it as much as I do - but I spend the most time with him and so maybe I see more than others can, and I feel it is my job to ensure that if there IS something wrong that it is being addressed. So we'll see what happens with that, also. Someone is supposed to call me back about that soon.
In other news, I put the baby down for a nap and 30 minutes later her cries were getting more frantic - normally she settles in pretty easily for nap time and I knew she was tired because she did not get a very good nap this morning. I went to check on her and she had rolled herself over - she was probably totally confused! I held her for a few minutes and put her back down and she went right to sleep. Poor thing! :)
so when you've googled those symptoms, what have you come up with?
ReplyDeleteand I couldn't help but laugh- poor M!
If you CAN switch doctors (or can ask to get a second opinion) I know an amazing nurse practitioner...not sure if she is taking new medicaid patients, but maybe she'd look at him for a second opinion?
Oh there are all kinds of things - celiac disease (for distended abdomen, constipation, he also has very dry skin which is a symptom of celiac disease; also it can cause abdominal pain which might explain tantrums); hypothyroidism (mood swings, constipation, lots of sleeping, dry skin). When I went to WebMD it said 20 different things, ranging from anal fissure to child abuse (!!!!). It also said "sleep deprivation" which is interesting (and clearly not correct!).
ReplyDeleteOh and thanks for the tip about the doctor - we'll see what these tests say and then go from there, though I do hope that they turn something up!
ReplyDeletehave you thought about taking gluten out of his diet and see if it helps?
ReplyDeleteI have thought about it. The crappy thing is that I have no control over what he eats on visits, and she always feeds them on visits and it is usually kind of junky food. It seems like almost everything has gluten in it and she would have to do a very good job of reading labels and being very restrictive of what he eats. I will talk to the doctor about it when I see him, because I think if he recommends it then she would be open to it, but I doubt that she would want to do it if it was only me saying that this could be the problem. I really don't think she likes me at all.
ReplyDeletewhat about doing it while he is at your place? I know you don't have any control over them there, but it certainly can't hurt to remove gluten from 90% of his diet, you know? Just don't tell her...that way, if the doctor does say to try it, a) you'll already be doing it so it won't be stressful for you b) his body will be almost completely free of it so she'll really be able to see the effect if he eats gluten...does that make any sense?
ReplyDelete