Friday, February 22, 2008

Little Man

I know what your thinking, "Poor Becca is so busy with mothering those three young kids, and spending every free second packing and doesn't have time to blog."
Well, your partly right. I do my share of mothering but packing....not so much. We do have some things packed in boxes, neatly placed in the basement with their moving location written with a black Sharpie on the lid. But if I am being honest I am not on target for that stress free move that I have visualized in my head, (So much for "The Secret"). I tend to get overwhelmed easily and then retreat to my place on the couch with my lap top and read blogs and suck my thumb. It would be easy if I just threw all our junk in boxes and called it good but I really want to sort and purge and be mindful of what is useful and what is destined for the shelves of Good Will. So that takes time and quite and a clear head and lots and lots of coffee. Besides we've had some really sunny days lately that have given us glimpses of the promise of spring. So we've gotten the kids out to play and even took a trip to Silver Falls.

I have to take a pause from this post to tell you about a brief yet scary conversation I had with the gentleman walking behind me down the trail to the falls. I was pushing the twins in the stroller, (Really I DO NOT recommend this form of transportation down a steep, windy trail that can plummet to ones death.) when the man behind me starting asking me a brilliant line of questions that ultimately had me wondering if he had ever read a book in his life.
It went exactly like this-
Older Ignorant Man: Those twins you got up there?
Me: Yes
OIM: Were they born at the same time?
Me: Yes
OIM: I had twin sisters.
Me: That's nice. These are boy/girl twins.
OIM: Oh! That's weird. I've never heard of that happening before.
Me: (Silence)

I also took the twins in for their 18 month well baby check up. Here are the stats:
Jabe
Length: 31.5 inches
Weight: 20 lbs 5 oz

Phoebe:
Length: 33.25 inches
Weight: 23 lbs

Jabe is underweight according to the weight chart. The ironic part is that Jabe eats a lot! More than Phoebe. And a very balanced diet. So the doctor thinks that Jabe isn't digesting food properly. Jabe poops about four or five times daily. So Doc feels like the food is just going right though him and not absorbing all the calories and vitamins. He thinks that Jabes diet of whole wheat, verity of fruits, vegetables, meats are just too complex for him to digest. So he wants me to go to a very simple, easy diet of white rice, white bread, noodles, yogurt, cheese, whole milk, apples, bananas and other plain foods to help him to relearn how to digest. Then a weight check in three months. It's really hard for me to wrap my brain around this. I love that the twins eat anything and everything I give them. I have worked really hard to eliminate all white breads and processed food so to add some of that back is strange. I worry that I might get him addicted to carbs or that I might create issues have Jabe and Phoebe eat different meals. I still have lots of questions about it and need to email the nurse to get a little guidance. If I had to guess looking at the weight chart I would have to say Jabe is like -5%. He just fits into 18 months clothes and will be turning 20 months next week. So he's little but so darn cute!

Mawh!

20 comments:

Rachel said...

The picture at the top is so sweet. Look at your babies! And they are just as cute now!!!
As for the diet adjustment...WOW!! I've heard of doctors recommending ice cream or fattening foods to help add pounds but not white flour....Good luck, and don't worry, he'll be okay with the "bad flour" for awhile!

Unknown said...

I LOVE the dialogue of you and the old man, especially the part where he asks if they were born at the same time! LOL! What a fun way to spend a sunny day, Silver Falls is gorgeous, somewhere I wish I went more often.

Love the picture of Phoebs blowing us all a kiss from the crib...

Valerie of Momia said...

I litterally scoffed when I read your story about the man at SCF. What in the world???

Makayla weighed exactly 20 lbs 5 oz at her 18 month appointment, too!! The big differences are: Makayla was only 18 months and a few days AND she's a girl. (She's still on the charts.)

I can really "feel for you" with your concerns about changing Jabe's diet.

If he continues on this course of eating and not gaining, he'll be one of those people that eats and eats, stays slim, and complains "I just can't put on any weight". (I'd love to throw a pity party for each and everyone of those unfortunate souls!) ;)

Seriously, your kids are cuties and, of course, we want them to be healthy! Please keep us informed about what you decide to do and if it works.

Happy packing! :)

Christi said...

One thing I always think about those charts is that babies really vary so little in their weight. I mean even if he was just two pounds heavier the little dot would appear in a way different place.

Sometimes it is weird taking doctors' advice. Did he just make it up? Did he read it somewhere? Did it work for his own kid? Not to say he is wrong, but how do they come up with their answers?

The crib pictures are my favorite, especially the first one!

mbrassfield said...

My sister's twins are boy/girl and Gracie has always been a bigger than Garrett. He has always been extrememly skinny also, but he doesn't eat much.

I also have a friend who is going through the problem of her son being underweight, but it is because he won't eat very much, very picky.

mbrassfield said...

You got me curious so I looked up Jenna's measurements. At 17 1/2 months old she was 27.8 pounds ,34.25 inches and wore size 7 shoe. She was and still is giant for her age. At her 4 year well child she was 43 inches 43 pounds and now wears a size 11.5 shoe.

Jen said...

That happened with Colby at his one year check up. I was proudly feeding him fully from the table, and he ate everything we ate, and because he was small I was told to go back to the stage 3 baby food for a while so he can "absorb" the nutrients and vitamins. It floored me. But, within a couple of months he was back to eating what we ate and he loved the baby food (if I remember right). Anyways...he's SO CUTE, can't wait to see him with a bit of chub, if it'll attach to him. Don't worry about carbs yet, Becca. My boys still eat mainly carbs and are still skinny dudes. As long as you aren't force feeding your kids or rewarding with food on a regular basis (potty training, no biggie, but daily emotional eating, not a great idea...you know what I mean), they'll be fine.

CUTE CUTE CUTE kids!!!

Oh and my blog's back up. Jen Green

Jen said...

oh, and when I refer to "he's so cute" I'm talking about Jabe, not my own cute son Colby. Didn't want to steal the thunder here.

crystalkupper said...

Jabe IS so darn cute, and don't worry about feeding him the "bad stuff" for a while. Mom always said that kids bounce back from anything, and it's the way you eat in the long haul that influences them. At least that's what she says. :-)

Alida said...

Darn cute is right.

We mothers have so much to sift through. We are told get them started early on a healthy diet, but the truth (I've also heard) is kids need simple high fat foods. White bread smothered in butter!

I stresses soooo much over Luke's eating habits as a baby. When I look back at pictures he was FAT!

Take your doctors advice and temper it with your motherly instinct. That seems to work best.

LizzyG said...

Silver Falls looks beautiful! What a great idea to go there with the kids. And I'm still crossing my fingers for a stress-free move for you...miracles CAN happen! Hope Jabe adjusts well to the new diet...keep us posted. And yes, I'd love to talk politics with you sometime!

Anonymous said...

Love the pictures! They're growing up so quickly. Here's a positive outlook on Jabe's weight....at least he is walking and you don't have to carry him constantly. Max was 19 lbs. 13 oz. at his 6 month check-up yesterday.
P.S. Years back a co-worker told me that she had a twin brother. My response? "Oh, are you identical?" Her response (hysterical laughter) "Yes, other than the penis." Not one of my prouder moments.

Angela said...

Love the pics in the crib!

momaof4 said...

My kids eat white, white, white. They aren't fat, but tall and skinny!! :0 Not like momma at all. I hope it works for you. I am a bit jealous your kids eat anything!! We are trying, I keep telling myself a day will come when I can't keep food in the house!!

Aren't twin questions funny. People will stare at I and I and then ask...'are they idenical? ' What do your eyes tell you?! :)

February Jill said...

I'm sorry you are having food issues. I feel for you, Josh is hard to feed and he still won't drink from a bottle or sippy cup. He didn't gain any weight between 6-9 months either! He dropped from 90th to 50th percentile for weight, leaving me feeling like a failure as a mother. I feel that feeding a baby is one of the most basic mothering instincts and when they won't do it or it doesn't get us the desired results, it is so hard to take! Hang in there buddy.

Ona said...

I know I repeat myself,but gosh darn it they are so stinken cute!!!

Cute story of the old man.
Love the pictures1

Allison said...

gotta love OIM...truly, there are just so many out there. I can't can't how many times a week I get asked if Lauren and Blake are identical!

Tiffany said...

I love the MAWH photo!

That promise of spring will get 'ya every time! I has ruined many a good intention of getting a project done for me.

Did that older ignorant man have any teeth? I'm trying to picture him as he asks his brilliant questions in my mind.

Anne said...

If he's have 4 or 5 bms per day that's not normal and probably not a function of his diet, what you are feeding him is what he should be eating. Eating white rice, breads, etc. isn't going to "retrain" his digestive system. Ask for a consult with a pediatric GI specialist. We went through this with my son, poor weight gain, many many bms and he turned out to have a parasitic infection.

Anonymous said...

Hey Becca! I don't know your email so I'll just leave it here. I read a garden blog from a lady who also has a gluten free site. Her kid has celiac disease and she posts all of her recipes for those in the same position. (Michelle said Jabe may have a gluten issue) The site is
kathi-gfcf.blogspot.com
Hope it helps! Shannon