Progress?

Yesterday AJ and I went to CH again in DC. GOOD NEWS: AJ IS FINALLY OVER 20 POUNDS! The medicine we put him on to increase his appetite must be working!

First the lab tests: tons of blood taken (and I mean a lot!), which AJ hated of course. Then the sweat test. I can't even explain how horrible both of these were. I don't want to relive it right now, as I was a mess during and after this whole thing. Hopefully we will have results soon.

After the labwork we went for our nutritionist visit. Basically she said that as parents we are doing everything right (finally someone saying that!). We feed him healthy, good fats, good calories. We don't give him juice (a big no no apparently). We structure his meals all day the right way. He eats then drinks and repeats it again three hours later. The one thing she said we can try is to offer milk only at the end of meals and only water in between. We offer milk throughout the entire day since he doesn't drink enough. She isn't concerned with him not drinking enough milk--especially since he loves cheese and yogurt.

In the end, she thought that AJ has a high metabolism and requires more calories then kids his age. She agrees with me that she thinks he was eating/drinking fine, then we gave him the iron (which tests showed he DID NOT NEED), which probably upset his stomach. His stomach probably shrank and then now we have to just jumpstart it with that medicine he is on.

She was still concerned, however, that he may have a malabsorbion problem, so she told us to give her a call in a week to get the results from the test yesterday.

All in all, a terrible day at the hospital, but the outcome looks promising. I feel better now, hopefully things are starting to turn around. Just that extra pound is making me happy!

Next step: Dr. Bader follow up on the 23rd and then his 18 MONTH (wow how time flies!) appointment on the 30th.

Oh, and I feel much better, my little one has his swine flu vaccine!