BeBa

Yay! That sippy cup contains the Pediasure that Jake is mostly not interested in.

Otherwise, he seems to be keeping his solids down (he’s advanced to yogurt and Cheerios). He didn’t have much appetite in the hospital, but interestingly he thought eating sounded like a great idea once we were home and he was strapped into his highchair.

His energy is good, he’s crawling all over the place. Ahhh, my baby is on the mend.

Of course, there is lots of follow up planned for monitoring his weight and exploring any potential GI issues. I’m on board for that (not that I have a choice, but I’m on board for it anyway at this point so we can just KNOW one way or another), but I am REALLY frustrated by the alarmist methods used by medical staff.

Even the pediatrician, whom I previously respected, trashed his credibility with me when he starts in on how he’s concerned because Jake isn’t meeting his milestones because he wasn’t talking nor being very active when he (the ped) was observing him. Well, he’s not going to talk or squeal or be excited when he is so frustrated by his environment. He’s not going to show you all of his tricks when he’s in my arms or penned in a baby jail. He’s recovering from a serious illness and you always come during naptime, plus the boy’s got a sleep debt because now that he’s better he’s too alert to nap in this place. WTF? Not to mention that 2 out of the whole 3 times you’ve seen him, he’s been asleep!

Then he says, I’m also concerned because his fontanel is closed and that means his head/brain may not continue to go. Hmmm. Interesting that pretty much every single resource I’ve checked says that 15 months is average and as early as 9 months is still normal.

Then he tilts his head and says, “Does he ever call you mama?” I said: Mama, dada plus about 20 other words we identified before we stopped keeping track. He says well I’ve got a one year old across the hall who shrieks mamamamamamama anytime I’m in the room and I see this baby who is mute the whole time I’m in here, so how can I not be concerned for him. He should be talking more by this age.

My friends, I went off on this man. What kind of idiot does he take me for? I said I understand your position here. I respect your concerns and to some degree I share them. If something is wrong, I want to know about it. I have consented to testing and will continue to follow up so we can eliminate or identify any issues. HOWEVER, I do not appreciate your alarmist tactics in an appeal to my emotions. I am an analytical person who intensely researches the issues. Any decisions we make about his continuing care will be informed and rational.

And I went on further in that vein. PISSED. I said, I can handle the idea that his low weight might be CF or gluten/dairy allergies (even in the absence of ANY symptoms, mind you) but I would feel a lot more confident about YOU if you conceded that there is some chance this is *just the way he is*, particularly given his genetic legacy.

I keep telling myself the man is trained as a doctor, not a lawyer (i.e., it’s no surprise his persuasion skills suck so massively), but it’s hard for me to respect the intelligence of someone who would make such nakedly uninformed remarks about my son. DOES NOT INSPIRE CONFIDENCE to say the least. Although I understand his motivation is to ensure we do follow up care.

AUGH.

God, I’ve been dying to get that off my chest. And what the hell kind of hospital in 2008 doesn’t have Internet access for people? I felt so incredibly vulnerable without having informational resources and support readily available. I realize, of course, the medicos probably like it that way…

Anyway, I am worried about little Jakey now. If something is wrong that can help him grow better, I hope we can identify it easily and quickly with minimal intervention.