First, the good news. James has been on growth hormone for about two weeks now! Our insurance ended up approving it without him having to see a pediatric endocrinologist. We give him one tiny injection every night, and we rotate between his right and left thighs, stomach, and rear end. It doesn't seem to hurt him very much; usually he's asleep when we give it to him. It will take a few months for us to see any change as a result of the growth hormone, but we are just excited that he's getting it. He now weighs 13 lbs 14 oz and is 23 in long! You can see in the previous post just how chunky he's getting.
Now, the bad news. James' feedings haven't gotten much better, even with the changes in medication, formula, and mommy's diet. He had an upper GI series x-ray done last week and it definitely showed reflux. We took him to see a pediatric gastroenterologist today, and she increased his dosage of medications since he weighs more now. She told us to continue what we are doing now (five bottles a day and tube feeding at night) and to continue with solids. In fact, she suggested that he might do better with solids than he does with the bottle. I really think that the reflux is what is causing James' discomfort since he will take the whole bottle if he's half asleep when I feed him. Please pray that the increase in James' meds would improve the reflux and please continue to pray that he would take more milk by mouth. He has had his NG tube for three months now, and we'd love to have it gone!
I'll leave on a positive note with more good news. James is now babbling, saying, "Ma, ma." He's holding his head up much better when he's upright. He can roll himself all the way over from back to stomach and to back again. And he laughs, mostly when Elisabeth talks to him or when I tickle him. I appreciate these little milestones so much. God is good.
