The Journey of Parenthood…

Kye Growth Delay Update at 1 Year

Kye Growth Delay Update at 1 Year

You can get caught up on all the posts about Kye’s growth delay here:

It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year since Kye’s last growth specialist visit. During this year I did my best to put the entire thing out of my mind.

I focused on things I could control…which weren’t many. I mean you can’t really make your kid grow haha! However, after our last visit I was even more mindful about Kye’s nutrition.

I started giving him three Advocare chewable vitamins a day. One with each meal! At breakfast he gets the V100 (which is just an all-around multivitamin), at lunch he gets a Citrizinc (which has extra vitamin c, zinc and vitamin d), and at dinner, he gets a purple champs (which gives him added DHA). They are all fine to take together (I had two drs look them over including his pediatrician and the packaging says for ages 4 and up).

I also make sure he gets at least 24 oz of milk a day and eats a well-balanced diet. I’ve always been mindful of what my kids eat, but I knew that nutrition was pretty much the only thing I could really do this year to help him reach his full growth potential…so I took it even more seriously than I always have!

When we had the appointment last April they gave us orders to get another bone scan as well as lab work this year.

Getting it all done in time for the appointment was a bit of a hassle, but we did it 🙂 He was late to school a couple of mornings but at least it got done! Last time we did the labs at one hospital here locally and it was an awful experience for him. 

I really wanted to avoid that if it all possible! We talked a lot about it and I told him that he had to get the scan and labs. He remembered, vividly, having to have the labs done. But he was SO great about it! We talked about how it might hurt a little but that then it’s over with and we’d get to go back to the doctor in Tallahassee where we get donuts after 🙂

Bone scan was a breeze!

This time for the labs we went to the pediatric unit at another hospital. It was neat to go up there as I’ve never been there other then when we take our babies back to the hospital a couple days after giving birth.

So a lot of sweet memories came flooding back. The nurses there were AMAZING. The labs were SO, SO much better. They said they have special small needles and things that a regular, “adult” hospital just doesn’t have.

They were SUPER sweet to him and he didn’t even shed a TEAR which is huge compared to last time where he sobbed and sobbed into my arms. I’m so thankful we went where we did and that it was such a great experience! I wish I could get my shots there 😉

Over this year I haven’t been worried about his growth, because I know it’s out of my hands. However, I have been mindful of his height, his changes, his clothing sizes. Last year when we went to those appointments he was still able to wear some size 24 months shorts!

This year he is in a TRUE 5T. Isn’t that crazy!? He pretty much skipped sizes 2T and 3T and went straight to a 4T and even that didn’t last long!

Seeing his obvious growth (pants sizes don’t lie!) made me feel very confident going into our appointment. Like I wasn’t nervous at allll.

How could he still possibly have any type of delay if he’s wearing a size 5T and isn’t even 5 years old yet?!?!? I was so confident that my confidence actually made me nervous haha. I’ve never felt SO SURE and I’m not used to feeling that way!

Originally we planned to take Britt with us to the check-up. Again, I felt confident that this would be our last visit to this specialist, so I wanted Britt to get to experience Krispy Kreme donuts 😉

However, we ended up leaving her behind. We were leaving for Disney that weekend and didn’t want her to spend that much driving time in the car! Plus it was good to get some alone time with Kye too 🙂

When we got there they measured him first thing. His blood pressure was 98/78, he weighed 40.6 lbs, and was 42.5 inches tall. Yes. 42.5 inches tall.

At his four-year-old check-up (which was LESS than a year ago from this appointment) he was only 39 inches tall. That’s a growth of 3.5 inches in less than a year!!! After seeing that number I was smiling from ear to ear 🙂 Drs are only looking for a 2-inch growth each year so he grew significantly above that!

When the doctor came in she was also very smiley and relaxed and happy. She said right from the start “this is a positive appointment!” MUSIC TO MY EARS!!!

She went over his stats and said she reviewed his bone scan as well. Last year when he had his bone scan it said his bone age was that of a 2 year old…even though he was 4 years old. This year? His bone age is that of a 4 ½ year old! So not fully caught up to his current age…but super close 🙂

Dr. Wright told us that he is fully caught up to his peers in growth, his hormone levels for growth are all up, the levels in his labs that made her a little nervous before are now fully fine and in normal ranges, and he is in the 50% for height now for his age (rather than 30% like last year). She also said he is now in the appropriate height range for our family history and that he was never actually medically short, but that just that he was behind where he should be for our family. I mean can it GET any better than that news?!?!?

Moving forward she said she does NOT need to see us again! That we just need to continue to monitor his growth at this regular yearly check-ups and if he ever doesn’t grow those 2 inches in a year then we need to come back to her, especially during pre-puberty years.

I asked about his milk intake and she said it’s best to continue to give him 24 oz of milk a day and to continue with the vitamins and whatever I’ve basically done the last year because it’s all helped 🙂 

She said she still believes that both of our children are “loyal kids” and that Kye will probably be like Zach. He will be “shorter” now but will continue to grow after high school and will end up being tall.

Based on the Baby Center Height Predictor it says Kye will be 6 feet tall at age 18. And Dr. Wright said she suspects he will continue growing after age 18. Seeing 6 feet tall is a big relief for sure 😉 

When we talked about our “loyal son” I had to bring up Britt because last appointment the dr told us she suspected that Britt is an early bloomer like I was (meaning her bone age is actually older than her true age whereas Kye’s bone age is younger than his actual age).

I told her that at 2 years old Britt is already 36 inches and she laughed and said “yup, loyal daughter too!” Basically if the dr is correct, Kye (who appears short right now) will be tall like Zach and Britt (who appears tall right now) will be short like me!

So funny b/c whenever people see our kids they ALWAYS say “he’s short like his mama and she takes after her daddy!” Well, they are probably all wrong 😉

Zach and I both were SOOOO happy at the amazing good news all around at this visit!!! Praise the LORD for our healthy boy and for not more growth delay concerns!!! 

Kye actually has never known any specifics about any of this. I do NOT want him to ever feel ashamed or embarrassed by his height. Colt and Payton are MEGA tall. Zach is super tall. Most of Zach’s family are all very tall (I mean Courtney is 6 foot and Casey and Mrs. Charlotte are like 5’10” I think?). So I never want Kye to not feel “good enough” in anyway about his height.

I don’t want him to be insecure about it, ya know? So I never have told him about any of these concerns and, so far, he has never seemed bothered one bit about his stature. Now that he’s just as tall as his peers we hopefully won’t have any issues with height self-esteem stuff! 

Donut Reward TIME!

I am truly beyond thankful for God’s hand in all of this and how He has blessed us with such healthy children. I’m thankful that I had faith during this past year and that I didn’t let this concern cloud my life in a negative way at all.

Thank you to everyone who prayed for this visit! It truly could not have gone more perfectly and it was THE BEST way to kick off our amazing Disney trip 🙂 

Emily Parker
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