a little over a month ago we went in for livi's bi-annual visit to her gi doctor (dr. gopalkrishna), he's been livi's specialist since she was a little baby & we love him. livi had her weigh in first & we were really excited that she had gained a lil bit of weight. daddy thought that maybe our visits would be changed to once a year because she we thought she was doing better. well when dr. krishna came in we were all surprised when he told us that livi wasn't growing at all the way he hoped she would be. in almost a year she had only gained a little bit under 2 lbs (she was supposed to gain at least 5lbs ) & she'd only grown a few centimeters so it was kinda like her growing had stalled. he said she HAD to gain 1 pound in 3 months & there was no if ands or buts about it! here we're thinking she won't be back for a year & instead she has to go back in 3 months. she hasn't been on a 3 month schedule for a long time & we knew that this was serious. one of the problems is that livi burns more calories than what she's putting in & with her food aversion this was not a good thing at all. so mommy & daddy got on line trying to figure out things livi would eat that had the most calories in it or trying new things that was really high in calories. we had family & friends calling with ideas on how to help. mommy had lists & lists of things to try, things to mix with other things, all sorts of crazy things. it seems like they were at the grocery store every other day buying something new. mommy made a chart & records everything livi eats or drinks with the amount of calories in it. i had to admit i was a little jealous at first because livi is getting to eat as much ice cream as she wants, getting to drink more than one juice a day & eating pizza about 3 times a week, but watching how hard it is for her to stuff so much in her was really sad. you see when livi first started this she was barely eating a 1000 calories a day & she was supposed to be eating at least 2000 a day so she had a very long road ahead of her. the 1st week of of her new diet there was a lot of frustration, crying, stomach pains & tantrums on all of our parts. in the middle of the 2nd week livi visited her psychiatrist & he wanted livi to try a medicine to help her empty stomach faster, make her more hungry & slow her down a little bit so she wouldn't be so active. livi tried this medicine when she was about a 18 months old & it didn't work, but mommy was willing to try anything again. let me tell that medicine is a miracle worker because livi started eating like we've never seen her eat before, she was almost like a bottomless pit... it was AMAZING!!! she even started trying new foods that she hadn't wanted before! on the 4th of july she ate 2 hotdogs with the bun, she had never done that!!! we're still in shock to see her eat like she does, she can even eat more than me at times! yesterday mommy couldn't wait anymore & just wanted to see where livi stood after a month of this crazy diet so we took her in for a weigh-in. all the nurses at the office are like family because they know us so well & you could tell everyone was nervous when livi stepped up on the scale to be weighed & then to be measured. when she was done we all ran back to the nurses station while the nurse put livi's numbers in the computer so we could know exactly if anything had changed. guess what in 1 month & 3 days livi GAINED 2LBS!!!! 2 POUNDS!!! oh my gosh that nurses station erupted in cheers & tons of tears, we were all a hot mess. poor mommy couldn't pull herself together she was so happy! the nurses were sad dr. krishna wasn't there to see it, but they promised they'd tell him everything this morning! livi weighed 34 pounds!!! she hasn't grown any in height, but that's ok because she's gained 2 pounds in 1 month!!!
to celebrate she wanted to go out for ice cream at her favorite spot, so of course we went maggie moo's for chocolate ice cream! then right after ice cream at 8:40 at night she wanted some popeye's fried chicken, so off her & daddy went to get some. to say mommy & daddy have been stressed to the max this last month is a under statement, but yesterday was just what they needed. i can't wait to see how much weight livi will gain in the next two months! one of mommy's favorite quotes is "and though she may be but little, she is fierce" & i think that is the perfect thing to say about little livia.
Well I can not use the same message I did when you talked about this on FB. That was just a facial shot of Livi so when I say look at those chubby cheeks you know which ones I am referring to. The shot of Livi on the scales shows more than one set of cheeks and we do not want an "R" rated blog so I will refrain from mentioning CHEEKS! I am so pleased that Livi has shown incredible strength of character and gotten into this food eating thing with much gusto and determination. The Livi food charge is on and Livi is winning. I am so hopeful she will be able to continue this the rest of her life and will never need any surgery for this. She certainlky seems to be on the right track and I do not believe I would want to come between her and her plate anymore. Go girl, you have tons of support but none more important than what Ella gives you. She is your biggest supporter and you are one lucky girl to have an Ella for your sister.
ReplyDeleteLove you,
Dino Pop