First of all, BoyD was so cute in his little play. All the other kids had full fledged costumes, yet poor BoyD just had a dinky mask, but he didn't care in the slightest. He looked so cute. Sorry, grandmas, Brandon took the camera with him out of town for the day, so all the photos are stored in my memory and we don't yet have the technology to download those! Anyway, he didn't know the motions so he just copied what the other kids did a few seconds behind. It was hilarious, and he was so proud of himself. I, too, was proud.
On t0 BabyM. She is 19 months old and weighs 17lbs 12oz. She is growing at a slower and slower rate. Basically, she has been well since March, but hasn't gained an appropriate amount of weight. She isn't climbing the charts, or even levelling off. Her height and head circumfrence are doing fine, although she is still little.
Trying to get that kid to eat is so frustrating. I can't begin to decribe the stress I am under. It just makes me leave the table in tears. She is on a new vitamin that is supposed to increase her appetite, and is has some. She refuses anything that has any real nutritional value (except for avacados) She will eat bread, pasta, chips, crackers, cookies, all day long.
I saw a recipe some where for a breakfast cookie. I may try to make some of those. We visited a nutritionist, and she told us some things that just don't seem good. The problem is that I am arrogant and prideful, and think that I know what is best, when I probably don't.
For example...we're supposed to stick to white bread. It fills her up less as it has less flour. That makes sense, I guess, but knowing how bad white flour is for you, makes me cringe. She said to puree food for her to eat. I guess that is worth a try (anything is) but I already know that she is a texture kid, and I don't envision her liking pureed meat with veggies mixed in. But, like I said, whom am I? I mean...I am at the point of really trying anything. I thought that she had been doing ok since she had been well, for the most part. She is eating well today, though. Maybe we have turned a corner.
8 comments:
Does she like pancakes? When Hannah has a day where she eats little of anything with nutritional value (empty carbs), I always whip up veggie pancakes. I steam and puree green veggies (spinach, peas, broccoli) and freeze them in ice cube trays. Then I thaw a handful of cubes to equal about a half cup and throw it into our favorite pancake recipe. Slap a little butter and syrup on top, and Hannah's none-the-wiser. May be worth a shot if she'll go for pancakes. You can also add a mashed banana, pureed berries, mashed sweet potato, etc. to make them sweeter and more treat-like.
I can't imagine what you're going through. Making sure our kids are gaining weight is so stressful. I'll be praying for that sweet thing. Have I mentioned how glad I am to have you back to blogging? =)
Jenny,
Don't know if you remember me, we were roomies at Ladies retreat years ago. I just wanted to comment that I have 4 boys(14-24) and my youngest lived on all the stuff you described, pasta, crackers, cereal, etc. It was so frustrating but at age 14 he is finally adventuring to new foods (even wheat bread!) slowly but surely. He has always been healthy. So just trying to encourage you to not stress too much about it (although it's hard for moms!) This is probably the 1st generation raised on wheat bread etc. I would just let her eat what she likes (while continuing to offer other things)and it will all work out. Hang in there, I'll be praying for both of you. Colleen
Get her some Myoplex or Met-rx shakes. That'll get the good nutrition while also being tasty.
-Justin
I'm not a mom, so my advice may be worthless. But, have you seen the cookbook "Deceptively Delicious" by...can't remember her name - Jerry Seinfeld's wife? She purees fruits and veggies and then secretely puts them into normal recipes - like chicken nuggets and mac & cheese and brownies. Would something like that work? I don't know what kind of food you have access to, but it might be an idea?? Praying for you!
-Lisa B.
The problem is really her appetite. I do mix in veggies in everything (although not pancakes...yet!). We add heavy cream and butter to her eggs, but she will only eat one egg for breakfast (and that is it...if we're lucky) For a snack she ate 2 tablespoons of yogurt smoothie (which we are going to GNC to try to find some wheat germ to mix into).
For lunch she ate like 1/3 of a corn tortilla, and maybe 2-3 tablespoons all together of beans, eggs (with butter), and potatoes(fried with cream on them)
Getting veggies in her is not really the problem, b/c like I said, I mix them into everything (soups, all meat dishes, all sauces, etc)
We have a couple of pages from the nutritionist that lists ways to add calories (of different kinds) to the foods that she is eating. We are hoping that by doing that, we can increase her calorie intake enough to get her to gain a little bit.
Just so you know...if this makes sense...in March of this year (she was healthy) her weight was 1.98 standard deviations below the norm for her age. Now, she is 2.27 standard deviations below the norm.
All that means, is that she is getting farther away from where she should be.
Thank you all, so much for your encouragement and prayers! Keep it coming! I love the thoughts and ideas, and it helps me feel a little less isolated in this struggle.
Well, I don't have any great advice or ideas... And I think that maybe you don't need anymore anyways. But, I do have prayer and we both know that is better than anything anyways. So, I will be praying.
Love you guys,
Chrissie
and i remember that no matter how hard we try we can't make everything alright with our kids. you are already doing the best thing you can do for her: loving her and feeding her.(think of the worlds of children that have neither) YOU ARE WONDERFULLY PROVIDING! I have a cousin who would only eat peanut butter and white bread from the time he was 6 months old until 18 years. He stands 6 ft 4 in tall and is an athlete and doctor!
love you.. and praying for this new avenue God has you on as you trust Him with His child.
Jenny, this is your father-in-law in Haiti. Ruth asked me to comment, so here it is. It may be long, but since my academic training was in biology, chemistry and biochemistry, maybe I can give some general information that may be of value to you. We also raised two kids.
You indicated that Maddi likes a lot of things; all the things you listed there were carbohydrates! She likes carbohydrates!! Her body craves carbohydrates. So give her all she wants. Now carbohydrates have a bad reputation, but they are the basis of life for people. They provide almost all of the energy that keep people alive - so they are a good thing. They provide calories. The primary source of calories the body uses (that source of energy that keeps people alive) is glucose, which is a particular type of sugar. The body converts carbohydrates into glucose, from which it obtains energy for life.
Now sugars (all kinds) are carbohydrates. The body converts all of them into glucose and then uses the glucose to obtain energy. The primary source of carbohydrates is starch - found in rice, flour, beans, peas, corn, potatoes, sugars, etc. Without these carbohydrates, we would all be dead. We can live (for a while) on protein, but it is a less efficient source of energy
Now about bread: The normal bread is from wheat. The kernel of wheat is about 95% starch, the remainder being a shell of cellulose (which we cannot digest), and the "germ", which contains the nuclear material. Ground up wheat has a limited shelf life because the oils in the "germ" will turn rancid due to the oxidation of the oils. So people just remove the wheat germ and the cellulose shell, and the result can be stored without spoiling. The shell has no food value. The germ has DNA, some oils and other stuff for the growth process. The starch is just food storage for the seed growth.
Now whole wheat flour and white flour have essentially the same amount of carbohydrates. Thus they have the same energy usefulness to us. So, bread made with either flour will give essentially the same amount of calories. They just taste a little different due to the oils and other stuff in the wheat germ. I am not sure of the vitamin content of the wheat germ, but it will not be much, I think.
Meat, bread, and some veggies are all we need for life. But the primary source of energy (calories from glucose) comes from starch.
So, starch is good; sugars are good; from these we obtain energy and growth.
Just think about the food that is eaten by people that are overweight. Salty snacks and drinks high in sugar. Salty shacks have a lot of salt and oils. They taste good. Salt tastes good. Oils taste good (think "potato chips"). Sugar tastes good. So those things that taste good: salt, sugar, oils.
Maddie likes chips (salt and oils) and cookies (sugar). Her taste buds want them. So, she wants oils and carbohydrates - our primary source of energy!! She is not overweight, and she could use the calories.
A balanced diet is best, but if the body craves these energy sources it probably needs them. Vitamins are easily added to a diet.
About the salt: The body will remove the excess salts (within limits). The kidneys control the amount of various salts the body needs. The body needs salt.
Salt, sugar, flour, calories - all have bad reputations. But without them we would all be dead.
I fully believe the body will crave that food source it needs - within reason.
So, my advice (unasked for I realize - and of limited value) is to give that cute girl whatever she will eat. After she gets her weight closer to what you want, then you can adjust what she eats to a more balanced diet.
Pardon the long winded writing.
We love you all.
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