Ansel's Dr. called last week and said he wanted an appointment to discuss Ansel's growth. So that was today, and he said at this point (with his current pattern of growth) he'd probably only end up around 4 foot something (and he wanted to just cover all areas since he's not even on the charts at all). He said he wanted to get an x-ray of his hand and that would tell us what age his body thought that he was (Seriously.. how cool is that.. that you can find that out from an x-ray!) He said if his body actually thought he was 3 1/2, then he'd refer us on to an endocrinologist to at least discuss the human growth hormone options. (Don't want to go down that road if we don't have to!) He said if his body thought it was younger, in the two year range somewhere, then that meant he was just having delayed growth issues (and usually will play catch up at some point).
Well, we had the x-ray done today, and just a couple of hours later his doctor called back with results. Good news... his body only thinks he's about 2 1/2 years old!!! So on the 2 1/2 year charts his height is okay (around 20-25 percent or so) and his weight is close to 5%. He said we'll retest every 6 months or so just to make there is still improvement in growth. Anyway.. quite interesting news to get today.
I've kind of thought a lot of this was somehow preemie related (although he's still on the small end even of other preemies at his age) but I was worried that all his immature stomach issues could be affecting his growth. (That maybe he wasn't absorbing enough of the right stuff or something due to all the stomach irritations). Quite interesting to learn about all of this! I guess he didn't really associate this to preemies in particular, it can happen to non preemies as well, but from things I've read it seems to be a fairly common trend in preemies during early childhood! I personally think the whole "preemies catch up by the age of two" thing isn't all that accurate (especially for micropreemies!) My friend said the place they were at for one of her preemies told her really they don't catch up until age eight or so. Crazy how three little months can make such a difference for years to follow (or for some even just 4-6 weeks early can also make such a difference too!) I find it all quite fascinating to learn about!
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3 comments:
Wow, I didn't know that. Very interesting. That's good he doesn't have to go on hormone replacement therapy!
Yeah, Jeremy (my brother) has never caught up (born 1 pound 2 onces). He is now 20 years old and is shorter then me... I'd say he is only around five feet tall. We've talked to him about growth hormone but he is too afraid to take it.
I did know a little girl in Florida that was taking the growth hormone and she seemed happy and healthy... still a lot shorter then others her age... but at least she was growing. I do wish my brother had taken the hormone, it is A LOT harder for a man to be short then a woman.
Best of luck with all of that! I am sure he will be fine whatever way life throws him... as we all know, he was meant to be here!! :)
I'm sure you're glad to know he doesn't need to go on hormones. That sounds risky.
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