Do you have one you worry more about?

So my Baby A and Baby B... LOL! Anthony is the one who we have always worried about-since conception! From a small sac and possible miscarriage, to a possibility of Down Syndrome, to possible spina bifida(it's a sacral dimple), then onto a severe hypospadias and severe chordee(his penis).

We are now less than a month away from the age of 4. I just weighed all three kids. Annabella-2-is 27.5 lbs. Anthony is an even 30 lbs, and Nicholas is 34.5 lbs. Nicholas is at least 38 inches, if not a bit more. Anthony has yet to reach 36 inches. He is about 35 3/4 inches. Annabella is probably about 35 inches.

Anthony doesn't seem to run "normal." I am not sure if his height has anything to do with it or what. Jumping he can do, but not very high, and it's a bit awkward. He can't hop on one foot. He really doesn't alternate feet going up/downstairs. And when I've held his hand to help him, he doesn't have the strength to get his foot up it seems. I spent some time with his old EI(speech) therapist, and she's going to get me some info to possibly have him evaluated in the school system. Again, I don't know how much is age related, vs height. I know some of those things he should be doing, but doesn't. He doesn't go down off the curb with ease either. And lately he really hasn't been eating much. For lunch, Nicholas had grapes, PBJ, and pizza. Anthony took maybe 5 bites of his pizza, a few grapes and was done. Nicholas was looking for more! LOL! I know eating comes in phases, but geesh!

So-all that to say-do you have one you worry more about? If they are on the shorter side, do they do things differently? We see the pedi in November, so I've got two months to wait!

 

It has always varied for us. All my kids get speech but Clayton was dx by school as within the Autism Spectrum. So, I worried about him.. he did great in Kindergarten but Audrey was slow to really learn words, so I worry about her... she is better this year (I think a better teacher). :hug: It's hard, you try not to compare and realize there is a broad spectrum to normal.

 

:hug: Meaghan
I have to say that I worry about my DS more then I do my DD. He has things that he just totally gets stuck on. Like right now it's vacuum cleaners, it's all he wants to play, it's all he talks about. He pretends that his fire truck and lawn mower are a vacuum cleaner and a steam vac and they have to sit in a certain spot in the living room and if they are disturbed, DS loses his mind. If we go over people's houses he will ask me if he can ask the person we are visiting if they will bring their vacuum cleaner out for him. Everyone tells me it's a normal phase and I'm sure it is...but it does worry me too.
Both of mine are at equal height but my DD has always reached physical milestones faster then my DS. She can kick better, run faster, jump higher, catch & throw better then he can. All that being said though, he is not as accident prone as she is.

 

My son is around 37 inches, my daughter is around 40. My son stepped on the scale yesterday and it wavered between 28 and 27 lbs. He stepped on it again last night (just for fun, he recently discovered it.) and it was at 27 and this time did not waver. I worry about his weight and him falling off his growth curve. He still doesn't alternate legs going up steps either. But he has really short legs! I feel like I should work more with him on it, but I just haven't. I asked the doctor at their 3 year visit in March and she said I might want to start pushing it a little with him. But then she had him stand and hop on one foot and he did it fine. She said if he could do that, he's capable of going up with alternating legs. It's probably just not that comfortable for him because of his height. He's average for height, but his legs are really short. The 3+ height difference between the 2 is all in the legs. And he's much smaller framed.

I also worry a little because he's pretty sensitive and isn't the typical rough and tumble boy. He prefers to play with his sister all the time, with all her girl toys. I never discourage it, I just let them be. Lately he's been saying he wishes he were a girl because girls have more fun I feel bad because I think if they weren't twins then he would have had his own boy toys and more attention from me to play "boy stuff" now we pretty much all play together and they usually prefer to play with the dolls, doll houses, tea set, beads, etc. He has boy toys, but never got to experience them without all the fun "girly stuff" around too and a sister to play with.

Oh, and by the way, Anthony's lunch sounds pretty typical of the amount of food both my kids eat at a meal!

ETA: you can see how much littler my son is in their ticker picture!

 

Timothy totally did the vacuum phase. He still loves them. He thought the best xmas present was a vacuum from a brand called Shark. It was a real vacuum that was rechargable so you don't have to worry about getting tripped up in the cord. It's more of a power sweeper than a vacuum so he couldn't get in trouble with it. And the handle came in sections to adjust for height. So dh made it just Timothy's height. He loves it.

I tend to worry about Sarah more. She was my reflux baby with dairy allergies. Thankfully, she outgrew all that. Then she was diagnosed with asthma and completely stopped breathing on me one night. She's pretty much outgrown the asthma. Now she's been diagnosed with urinary reflux between her bladder and kidney's. We're doing some retraining and hoping she out-grows that (a lot of kids do). She's also just socially very quiet and reserved. Friends are difficult for her. Well, that and they keep moving away. Timothy only has mild seasonal allergies and just needs a ball and soccer field and he's got a whole herd of boys to run around with.

Marissa

 

Meggles, have you had him evaluated by an endocrinologist for short stature?

 

Negative. Tell me more. I've seen an endo for my thyroid stuff... DH is short. He's 5'4". I could be a wee bit generous...

 

Yes I do!

At birth, it was Sebastian. I swear that kid would have died rather than learn to nurse. We'd spend an hour at a time just latching him on. :umm:

Then, this 1.5 years has been the year of Orion. Orion only rolled one way. He physically wouldn't roll the other way, even if you blocked him from rolling his preferred way. We did an eval from EI & he's fine. His acid reflux got worse as we introduced dairy products- eventually he had to have a 24 hour pH test as he wasn't sleeping at over a year old- he'd wake up screaming bloody murder every couple of nights. We get his acid under control and find out his testicles (both sides!) need surgery. He has a double hernia repair done 1 month out from the 24 hour pH test.

 

I'll send you a FB message tonight or tomorrow. :wub:

 

Its flipped back and forth for us. In the beginning it was M. She was the one with breathing trouble, smaller, frailer. Even though A had a brain bleed at birth she just seemed sturdier (as sturdy as a 3 1/2 lb preemie can be). Then during some time during the first year it was A who had bad reflux, would stop breathing sometimes and freak me out. She was smaller than M because of the reflux and all the spitting and just seemed weaker. Then the second year, back to M. Once A stopped throwing up multiple times a day, she just grew and grew and M became our peanut who we worried about. Then the third year, A started pooping blood. Got that straighten out, and then it was off to the gastro for M in our fourth year. We are currently worrying about her because she is small and has some GI issues (which may be related to my GI issues). So if we continue this schedule, by next year I'll be back to worrying about A (probably something behaviorally-oriented involving impulse control at school).

I'd talk to your pedi Meaghan if you are worried about his growth. It could just be who he is because you and your DH are short. :hug:

 

I dont know, I worry for all my kids but for different reasons. Reese I worried about because her speech was not good (still isnt great) but I had her evaluated several times and I am told she is in the normal range...apparently that range is pretty huge! Ryder is small- and does not have near the motor skills Reese has, but for now I am chalking it up as 'normal'. Sophia is crazy sensitive like wack-a-do sensitive and I worry about her mental state a lot. So I do get the 'worry' but I have it for all three for different reasons.

I hope you can have him evaluated and your mind put to rest!! :hug:

 

DS#2 for me. At 11 months he still could not roll from his back to his stomach and did not crawl until his 1st birthday. He was in PT for about a year. At 16 months he had the speech of a 7 month old. At 20 months he was evaluated by an OT and we were told he had sensory issues. At 26 months I had him evaluated because two of his therapists said he had atypical behavior for a child of his age. They could not determine if he was on the spectrum because he was so young and told me to have him evaluated again in 6 months.

They are now 38 months old and his speech is exploding every day. I call him my stunt man because he can fall and it does not phase him. He is becoming more and more social and I contribute it to him going to preschool 4 days a week. He is in a seperate classroom than his brother and that is allowing him to interact with other kids.

I have a very good feeling that he has an intolerance to dairy.This all started right after his first birthday when cow's milk was introduced. I took him to an allergist and she would not test him. So right now he is limited to anything with milk,cheese and yogurt. I notice when he has too much, his sensory seeking behaviors increase ten fold. This weekend I decided to buy Lactaid milk to see if he could tolerate it and he's been acting very "off" today.

I just wish I could get him tested for food allergies. It would be so helpful to know what exactly he is allergic to. But trying to find a Dr. willing to do it has been very difficult.

 

For me it is DD, while I was pregnant she had a brain cyst, then there was something wrong with the blood flow when they did the ultrasounds. Then she was labeled as failure to thrive as she is SO tiny. they did a load of test and couldn't find anything so now think she is just small. she is smart and lively - a little fireball really but I still worry because she is so small. 20 lbs at 2.5 years and still wearing 18 month clothes. People always ask what the difference is in age between my DD and DS because he is so much bigger (and he is actually small for his age too.)

DS did end up having a double hernia & operation, plus he is shy and now he seems to be quite aggressive - hitting, pinching & biting - so maybe now it will be his turn for me to worry about!!

 

Thanks ladies for the responses! I'm glad I'm not alone in this! I think dh thinks I think too much about it.

Anthony would only roll one way when he was an infant too! And he didn't roll the other way until he was a year old! He's a stinker! I will tell ya though, he does it on his OWN time-that's for sure!

As a little update....

I made an appointment with the pedi for their 4 yr well visit. Anthony goes on November 1, and just him, that way I can talk to the pedi about my concerns. Nicholas will go on December 5th. I also talked to their former EI therapist and she gave me the info of the contact person for Special Ed what have you in our town. I will probably give her a call and see if anything is recommended, or if she thinks an evaluation is warranted.

Nicholas worries me too-in other ways. That kid is going to drive his teachers CRAZY! He is non stop talking and has quite the attitude. And he gives up without even trying. Man the gray hair I have! :laughing:

 

Jessy is my problem baby. We were told shed never make it to birth due to iugr and 2 vessel cord plus improper implantion with the placenta. She was tiny and had reflux and a murmur. Then she out grew reflux and we gained failure to thrive and asthama(2 hrs old or so). Then she was walking funny( swinging one leg) but was cleared by an ortho. She had open heart surgery at 4 when hey found her murmur that was suPposed to be a pulmonary Stentosis was also coupled with an undiagnosed hole in her septal wall which was too big to close by heart cath. She is still tiny(almost 10-12 lbs lighter than her Id twin). Her hair has never curled we suspect due to her issues (it used to be curly). She still gets sick easier. BUT as an almost 6 yr old she has a stunning vocab(due to being still more I guess) and has an A+ in kindergarten. She is starting to read. Dynamite does come in small packages

 

Sabrina. From the beginning she was smaller, measured a week behind her sister at my first 9 week u/s. They were almost 2 1/2 lbs apart when they were born. She lost weight and it took her over 5 weeks just to get back to birth weight. She had what seemed like very weird eyes, which freaked me out the first time I noticed. Turns out she has a relatively rare genetic condition called Achromatopsia, which makes her legally blind, very sensitive to light (blind in the sun), have nystagmus (the movement that really threw me at first) and completely colorblind. We didn't learn the true issues with her eyes until she was almost 4, even though we started seeing eye doctors and neurologists from the time she was a small baby. And she's tiny! AT 5 1/2 she was barely 30 lbs. She's like 18 lbs, 4 inches and 3-4 shoe sizes smaller than Sydney who is really just average in size. No one would ever suspect that they're twins. And she's thin! She's never been on the charts for height or weight and her height-weight ratio was like 3%ile. Then her issues with light led to her being severely vitamin D deficient which led to symptoms that made me think she might have cancer. I have worried about her for over 6 years and she's 5 1/2.

But there is finally some good news. Her eyes are not degenerative, so her functional eye-sight will stay pretty much what it is. And she's learned to cope quite well. And we got the Vit D thing under control. We discovered about 5 months ago that she was pretty severely constipated, even though she was having a bowel movement every day. Getting her on Miralax has helped with that which in turn helped her appetite. And wonder of wonders, she's gained almost 2.5 Kg in 5 months (the average for a 5 year old is 1.5 to 2 Kg in a year). That's unheard of for her. She actually tells me she's hungry now. And she's finally on the height and weight charts... just barely, and her height to weight ratio is 25%ile!!!!! Woohoo! I still worry about her, but it's so nice to see things turning around for her.

For me the hardest part of all of this was learning not to baby her (or let her older siblings do it either), and requiring her to do things for herself that she didn't think she could or just didn't want to try. It's led to lots of tears (on both her part and mine).

 

I remember you posting about Sabrina I think when you first found out about her eye issues. Glad to see there has been some improvement. :hug:

I had Anthony go up and down the stairs to our porch outside this afternoon. He only goes up with his right foot. If he goes up with his left-he practically falls over. He can't do it. Then I had him go down the stairs, and he only did one foot. And when asked to switch and alternate, he again, almost falls over. So, I will be calling the special ed department tomorrow and see if they recommend anything. In the meantime, I will work with him on using his left foot.

 

Yes!!! Thank u for this post..I thought I was the only neurotic ( not u me) mom out there. I worry constantly about my one twin. I have convinced myself that he is on the spectrum and I drive myself nuts.

 

I worry medically more about Henry. He seems to always catch everything and he has chronic hives. He is also smaller than Jacob by about 7lbs now. My neighbor's 1 year old is his weight. He also eats like a bird and the only meat he likes is bacon. Developmentally, he isn't where Jacob is physically but he is trying.

Jacob i worry about emotionally because he is very sensitive and having been in his shoes, I know he won't have an easy childhood.

As for your situation, I see no harm in having him evaluated. If you are worried about physical development, there are a lot of play exercises you can do (walking on pillows) that can help him. Good luck, it is not easy when you worry about your babies.

 

Has his motor skills always been like that? or is the hopping on one foot, running and standing on one foot always been like that? Is he getting worse by the day or is it the same always?