Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Audacious Hope


We hear the cynics. We travel a treacherous road. We foresee tough days, but emerge heads high, countering fears with strength, resolve and optimism.

We're talking, of course, about Hope's weight. She has finally, officially, surpassed the 10 lbs. barrier, weighing in at the doctor the other day at 10 lbs. 4 oz. For those keeping track at home, that's 15 oz in about five weeks, a nice spurt for someone who took four months to gain 1 lb over the summer.

After much experimentation, heated coconut oil and carefully calibrated concoctions, we've switched from formula to Pediasure, which has about 6 calories more an ounce. Plus it tastes awesome, like a warm malted milkshake, rather than the diluted puke water that was her staple.

And like Mom's old saying about watched kettles, we've given up religiously weighing Hope every week, holding our breath as the numbers moved, and then exhaling in frustration in disappointment. We still fret about her weight, and are meeting soon with a pediatric endocrinologist to determine whether hormone therapy would help.


But today, we're happy and hopeful. That other thing that happened yesterday was pretty cool, too.

11 comments:

heidi @ ggip said...

Great job Hope!!

I am wondering if we will switch formulas when Blue turns one. The alimentum is great for him (he hasn't had any trouble gaining so far) but it does smell HORRIBLE! Yes, he doesn't eat it by mouth, but yuck anyhow.

Have a great day!

Rhonda said...

I really enjoy your posts. And, I love the pictures of Hope. She sure is a cutey. I'm glad she's topped the 10 lb. mark. There wasn't alot of emphasis on growth when Sean was younger. We knew he was small but never thought much about it. When he was about 15 his pediatrician mentioned growth hormones. My thought on that was with him not being potty trained it was certainly easier on me for him to be small. We decided to just let nature take it's course. He's almost 21 and the size of about a 10 year old. His height and weight are proportionate right now. We have to watch and make sure he doesn't gain too much weight because he probably won't be getting any taller. Good luck with your upcoming decisions about her growth.

Misty said...

that onesie is adorable and her smile is beautiful!!

we too switched to pediasure, but had to cut back on the volume quite a bit.. Now the nutritionist and g.i. want to put mason on soy toddler formula because he has had a bad break out of ecgzema (which i can keep under control with creams and am personaly not too worried about since i have an 11 year old who had it pretty bad as a baby). mason has had some tastes of vanilla pediasure and i think that were he eating by mouth more, he would definately prefer the pediasure over enfamil puke water LOL!

it sounds like it is working out much better!!! and her weight is GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what happened yesterday?? ;)

Misty said...

you must tell me where you got that onsie!

Debbie said...

Woohooooo! Way to go you guys :-) Now, like I told Mo, I think you need to have a "10 Lb. Party" in Hope's honor.
I think your approach to not watch the scale like a hawk is a great one, I use that for myself. It is pretty easy just to go by how my clothes are fitting. Then when I do go to the doctor, sometimes I am pleasantly suprised with more weight gain than I thought and dsometimes it reminds I need to keep pushing ahead and gain a few more.
It is odd in today's societry to be in that small group of people who NEED to gain weight, but having Hope in my little group sure makes it almost cool! :-)
xoxoxoxo

beth said...

Yay for 10 pounds!

Liking the onesie...finally tucked the Hillary one away, eh?! Hee.

Anonymous said...

Hurray Hope for crossing the 10 lb. mark!!!

Love the onesie! :-)

Deni aka Mrs Chicken said...

That's fantastic News!

I have to say, I just gush and get all warm and fuzzy inside with seeing photos of our little CdLS Bubs, I swear they have the most absolutely awsome smiles and they just glow from the inside!!

Rachelle said...

That's awesome that she put on so much weight! Joey sure loves his Pediasure ~ he drinks three a day from a baby bottle. It's the only way he will drink the whole amount that he needs to. Whatever works ~ right? Love the photo!

Pam said...

HIP HIP HOORAY!!!!!! You GO Hopeinator!! xoxoxoxo

~Rachel said...

I love reading your posts! I love the name Hope. She is so beautiful. Congrats on the weight gain.