Tiny baby

Isla was born 3 weeks early so we knew she would be small but we never expected her to be so tiny. Even the doctors were surprised to learn that she was only 5 pounds 4 ounces. Within a few days of her birth we had an appointment at Isla’s pediatrician. There we learned that Isla’s weight had dropped to 4 pounds and 13 ounces- they were a bit concerned but told us that she needed to be back at her birth weight by no later than her 2 weeks appointment. I was nursing Isla and made sure she ate every 1 to 2 hours- let me tell you I was exhausted! By her 2 week appointment she weighed in at 5 pounds 7 ounces- we just made it! Because she was so small and had problems gaining weight I had to bring her in to the pediatrician’s office every week or so to monitor her weight. She was gaining weight but slowly.

We kept a close eye on her and she was doing very well. She was always between the 3rd and 5th percentile- her doctor told us that just as long as she stayed on her growth curve there was no reason to be concerned. She said that some babies are just small like Isla. She stayed on her growth curve for a bit and after starting her on solid foods at 6 months we expected her to gain a little more but instead she kept right on the same path. We kept up on regular weight check appointments as well as her “well baby” exams because she is so small and had other health issues we needed to be monitoring.

Yesterday (8/12) I tool Isla into the pediatrician’s office because her colic had gotten worse. They weighed her and at 7.7 months she only weighed 13 pounds 3 ounces which meant she completely fell off the growth curve. She is now just under the 1st %. Now they are concerned and are sending us to see a pediatric gastroenterologist. I am very worried for her and I hate waiting for this appointment which is in a week. Isla has been acting sick for a few weeks now and it has not let up. Every night she screams and cries and is acting like her stomach hurts. She tenses up and arches her back when you hold her against you- she basically throws her self backwards. It’s like she doesn’t want anything touching her stomach. She is inconsolable at night. I am trying to be strong for her but it is so hard to see her like this.