I'm beginning to wonder how she could be my daughter...

Vivian can't seem to gain weight very easily, which leads me to wonder if she's really mine. For two consecutive weeks she has gained only 1.5 ounces for a total of (drum roll here) 3 ounces in the last 2 weeks. You're amazed at my mathematical prowess, I know. That is, to say the least, significantly lower than what she should be gaining. She had been growing somewhat steadily along the 10th percentile, but has now dropped to between the 3rd and 5th percentile. Now we need to figure out why and how to help her put on some weight. There are a couple of possible reasons why she might be lagging behind. 1: her little heart is working so hard to get oxygen around her body that it is using up all the calories she's taking in and not leaving any for growth and 2: her soft palate is making it hard for her to eat and she's not taking in as many calories as she should be. Click here for a link to a better explanation of the palate problem http://craniofacial.seattlechildrens.org/conditions_treated/velophar.asp

Whatever the reason we need to figure it out so she can be strong for her surgery in 2 1/2 weeks. So off to Children's we go! We have an appointment tomorrow with the nurse practitioner who has been tracking her weight gain so that she can watch her eat and get a better idea of which problem to work on first.

We also will be seeing a gastroenterologist on Thursday to take a closer look at her reflux and see if we can make her more comfortable/ stop the wheezing that happens when her reflux causes her airway to close off. Hopefully both of those appointments will give good results. For now, we have added 2 bottles a day of 24 calorie per ounce formula (normal is 20/ounce) to give her a little boost and see if we can help her gain a little.

I also want to brag that Anna and Lucia brought me breakfast in bed on Saturday. Anna made it and Lucia put it on a tray and brought it up to me. The best part was that I came downstairs before they brought it to me, so they asked me to go back up and eat it in bed. It was delicious! I got a nutri-grain bar, some dried apricots and a handful of mini marshmallows. They told me that they wanted to bring me cereal, but since I have given up dairy they had to find something else. What thoughtful girls! So, I guess mother's day came early for me this year :)