Finally Gaining Weight

Elliot's 12-month well-visit plotted him securely back on the growth chart in the 9th percentile at 18lb 6 1/2 oz. I was super excited to hear this, especially considering he was well off the bottom of the curve at his 9 month visit and had to see a gastroenterologist.

The gastroenterologist thought his lack of weight gain and his abnormal blood work were indicators of nothing more than a virus, and to prove her theory correct, she had his blood work re-done. Surprise, surprise - it all came back perfect, just like Mama and GI knew it would!

When I asked the doctor about how his numbers looked on the breastfeeding chart instead of the WHO (World Health Organization) chart, above, he said he wasn't so concerned about actual percentiles, just about the curve - which is funny, because they certainly worry about the percentile when the kid's not actually in one.

So either way, he's doing great, no matter what chart you use - just like I always thought he was.

His head circumference is back up in the 90th percentile, which is where it started at birth. Funny, he didn't seem to have a giant head like Jake and Sam did when they were born - more like a perfect little cue-ball - but I guess it still measured big. He was 28.5" long (7th percentile), and his overall weight-for-length number was really great, too: 20th percentile.

(Trying to pry the door open, so he can play with the kids in the hall...)

The doctor was very happy with how much Elliot communicated. "Wow, he's talking to you a lot, mom!" It's funny how you need a doctor for perspective sometimes. I don't remember how much noise the other three made at this exact age, and wouldn't think all his little jabberings were "a lot," but after two late talkers (NOT SAM), I'm happy to hear it.
 
The doctor was also super happy with how active and attentive Elliot was. He said he could skip a whole bunch of questions because so many things were OBVIOUS - how well he crawled and cruised and stood, how well he made eye contact and tracked everything visually, how he smiled at the doctor and interacted with everything the doctor did.

"Oh, hi, Mama!"

The doctor said the small rash all around his neck was eczema. No surprise considering both Jacob and Sam had the same exact rash as babies, and that Lily has been battling eczema on the backs of her legs for years (it's been very minor for the last 6 months, PRAISE THE LORD).

I mentioned how Elliot's thrown up after eating eggs on two separate occasions, and the doctor said that probably means Elliot has an egg allergy. Argh, allergy is never a word you want to hear. I was hoping the doctor would say that happens with babies sometimes, but it kind of freaked him out, and he told me to take him to an allergist to "establish a relationship" now. Well, unless the allergist is funding that "relationship," we'll be waiting until he's old enough to actually DIAGNOSE and do something about said potential allergy, and in the meantime, we'll just refrain from feeding him scrambled or fried eggs (baked in recipes are OK because they're cooked in much higher temps than just pan-frying, so avoidance is not as hard as it may sound).

Have you ever seen a happier patient??

He looks right...

I look left...

All together now!