Well, I weighed the girls today. They weighed in at just at 15lbs (Nat) and 15lbs 15oz (Abby). Since I weighed them last on June 18th (10 days), they've only gained 2.5 oz and 1.5oz, respectfully. In 3 weeks (since June 10th), they have each only gained 4.5 oz. This is very, very, very bad. They should have gained about 9-12 oz. I am most disheartened.
We aren't tracking their volumes anymore (although I am tempted to start again), but I'm sure they have only been eating around 600mls. I'm pretty sure that it's closer to 500-550mls on some days. We have also traveled quite a bit in the past three weeks. We have been to my mom and mema's and to Ohio. Those travel days are so rough on the girls. They just don't eat well on the run, so to speak, such as in the car, in a restaurant, or on the side of the road. In addition, Poppy and Aunt Kimmy were here this weekend, and although we had lots of fun, it did affect their nap schedules a little. Ben and I also went out one night, and while we were out, the girls ate very little of their bedtime bottles. All the travel and disarray have clearly taken a toll on them.
So - we've put a moratorium on travel for a while. I was supposed to take the girls to my mom's again this week, but we aren't going. We need to stay home and focus on the girls eating.
In addition to restricted travel, I'm going to tighten up their schedule and be more strict about where and when we go out (on our already rare Walmart/Target trips) to make sure they don't interfere with any feeding times. We are also increasing their solids to three times a day. This is one reason I'm tightening the schedule. Fitting in three feeds, 5 bottles and naps takes some organization. We are sprinkling everything with Duocal, sugar, or heavy whipping cream. Someone on one of my preemie blogs suggested adding cream to their formula. I'm willing to give that a try.
I'd been feeling okay about their weight. I'd slacked off worrying about exactly how much they eat. Hmmm, seems like that was a bad idea. So, I 'm back on monitor mode. Ben and I had yet another conversation about whether or not we should go ahead and get g-tubes. They currently only get about 600cal from formula a day. It's tired to determine the solid caloric intake, but it's probably less than 200cal. So on a good day, maybe 800 calories. They need at least 1000 cal. to grow normally, never mind catching up and pulling ahead. I have a growing concern over what the lack of calories is doing to their minds and bodies. Our greatest concern with the g-tubes is that we will find that their little tummies just can't handle a larger volume of food. My fear/suspicion is that if we try to pump them up with more food, they will just throw up - a lot. Then, we will have babies who are eating the same amount but had to have surgery. I guess we could at least be consistent with the tube. We can make sure they get their 600mls or even 700mls.
Ahhh, the rambling of a mother in a quandary. We honestly just don't know what to do. For now, we will push every fattening food we can find and hope something works.
Thanks for reading my ramblings....
2 comments:
Since they like yogurt try:
Liberte: in the organic section of the grocery store.
Yoplait-thick and creamy: reg dairy section
Lecreme: reg dairy section
I always try to get more bang for the volume...
Hope those help!
Honestly, their weight doesn't seem too bad to me---that's about where Hallie was at a year actual (15 lbs. 9 ounces, to be precise). I think upping the calories and trying to do solids three times a day is sound advice, and yes it puts a damper on going anywhere, but I would try not to panic.
You can also add Karo syrup to their bottles---it's empty calories but it sure worked for us (even with Hallie's vomiting, which was attributable to all of the allergens we fed her without knowing she was allergic to them).
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