YEEAAAHHH!!!

We have some fantastic news! We are just so pumped that we wanted to share it with all of you!

BABYM IS SICK!

Isn't that great?

I mean...she actually has an infection. That is so good b/c it means that she doesn't have some sort of lifelong allergy, or metabolic disorder, or malformed intestines! She doesn't have crones disease, or celiacs disease, or a wheat or milk allergy! It is just a bunch of really hard to find bacteria living in her gut.

We just give her medicine, and in 5-10 days, she should be gaining weight, eating again, and having solid poopy!

I just can't explain how relieved we are. God has answered our prayers. Thank you for your prayers and support and offers for groceries, and love. It means so much!

So we go back to the Doc in a month or so to re-weigh, but he told us that her appetite should improve very soon.

And tonight, she ate a hamburger patty (from mcdonalds) like 8 french fries and a half of an oreo. Oh, and an ounce of juice! That may not seem like a lot, but compared to practically nothing, it is a ton!

Ok..off to bathe the kids.

Skinny BabyM

Well...I really haven't been posting much. I have a lot on my mind. I am worried for one of the first times in my life. I mean really worried. Now, please, don't give me any comments about how I shouldn't worry, and how worrying doesn't add a day to your life, etc. If you have ever had a child with a serious health issue, or even a potential minor health issue, you know, that worry (aka concern) is really unavoidable.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not worried like this: sitting, anticipating all of the bad things that are going to happen, and then giving myself an ulcer over what might not ever happen. When I say worry, I mean that many times throughout the day, thoughts of concern and desire for the best for my baby girl come to my mind, and I have to stop and pray for her. Thoughts of how I can help her permeate my life as well as varying plans to "solve" the problem.

Ok...here is the problem. BabyM is very underweight. She weighs only 15lbs 10oz and she is a month short of 1 year. She should be weighing closer to 19-20 lbs. Even for being petite, she isn't even on the charts.

We have been working on this "issue" for about a month now, and the first 5 days she gained 10 ounces and we really celebrated! But, in the last 3 weeks, she has grown 1 cm in lenght, .5cm in head circumference, and only 2 ounces. That is really not good. If she was a healthy weight, she should be gaining 2-3 ounces a week, and she is already underweight.

We have been force feeding her all of the fattiest, carb loadiest things we could find. Cream with her meat, butter on her veggies, yogurt with her fruit, etc. Well, she has also had diarrhea on and off since we started feeding her, but we live in Guatemala! Every one I know has diarrhea on and off. Well, now, the diarrhea is keeping her from gaining weight.

We will do a second round of feces and urine tests tomorrow (the first set came back clear). We are cutting out all dairy (all the things we were giving) as well as all wheat. Not an easy thing. I think we can find some health food stores here that will sell some dairy and wheat free stuff. It is hard to help the girl gain weight w/o typical wheat carbs and dairy fat.

All that to say, please pray for our little girl. Please pray that we can find what is wrong. Please pray that it is no more serious than lactose intollerance.

We have been trying so hard to make some progress with her eating and nursing. She just won't eat much or nurse for very long. And then I go to the doctor today to find out that all that work was for 2 ounces. 2 ounces in 3 weeks. 3 weeks!

Anyway, now that this is out in blog sphere, I will post more as soon as I know more. Thanks in advance to those of you who read this and will pray for our little precious baby girl.