Sorry it has been 3 months since my last entry! As i was a small child and grew into a "petite" adult, i had emotional responses to what was "happening" with Julia. Because of this, and some rather stubborn conversations I had over the phone with Julia's ped later on..both Joe and I decided it was best to hold off on doing any more tests or confronting this issue with the pediatrician again until after the baby was born. (which he was on November 25th!!)

So last week julia was complaining of ear aches so we took her in to be checked out. Sure enough, double ear infections poor baby! while also there I had them weigh her and check her height. she had gained 3 pounds since her last visit there and also either "grew" a few inches according to what doc had, or was miss-measured at her last visit. (this was one of the things doc and I went round and around about over the phone...Julia's track record on "growth charts". Julia is in the 1-3 percentile. always has been since birth, and is still following that trend now. ped was "concerned" that julia was measuring "so low", despite my constant reassurance that she comes from a small family and i was the same size at Julia's age. I actually wore 2T clothes at 5 years of age. Julia is 4 and wears 2-3T clothes right now. Doc was saying she had Julia down at 33.75 inches tall. i measured her at home at 35 inches. Doc wanted me to bring her in for another height check...something i "never got around to" while still pregnant....guess what she measured at this last appointment? 35.5 inches tall! either she had a huge growth spurt, or doc's measurements were off to begin with. either is possible. i had asked the doc on the phone during that last conversation what a difference 1 3/4 inches would make and she said, "at this point, HUGE")...so i was very pleased to see Julia was just fine in this area now and her records "corrected".

I was very polite and nice at this last visit. the last phone conversation had left both myself and the pediatrician frustrated. It was important to me now that I get across that I do respect her and trust her judgement as a doctor. Joe and i are just going to be cautious about what tests we approve when Julia already has such a strong factor of genes pulling her on the small side. Joe and I did end up agreeing between ourselves to go ahead with a blood test as eventually if not this doc, then another doc would want it, and better to just go ahead and get it out of the way. At this appointment the ped never brought up another blood test. i wasn't going to fight her on it anymore, but i was relieved none the less.

The appointment otherwise was non-eventful, except towards the end as doc showed me her own growth charts. (i had printed my own out on the internet and traced Julia's old baby records on my copies and they had come out fine. although, as doc had pointed out, it was very possible the charts she was graphing on were different than the ones i was graphing on...) so doc shows me her charts and sure enough, Julia's marks look concerning and different than "my" chart had shown, they are quite a bit "below" the lowest curve of normal on the doc's charts...but doc also pointed out (in a not-so-good sense) something that i had always been told by Julia's previous pediatricians were a good sign..she is remaining consistent with her growth. she is small, but she is consistent, she isn't trailing behind for herself. but this pediatrician made it sound like it was worrisome. i didn't question her different tone for the same point before she continued with...

"if she remians on this track until she is 18, we can project she will be 59 to 60 inches tall"

...i just smiled. "60 inches tall like iam 60 inches tall?" i said.

ped said, "yeah and she may just be small like her momma. didnt you say you had another relative that is small?"

i said, "yes, every female on my side of the family is 5 foot tall" (i forgot to add in, for the last 3 generations, i'll be sure to include that next time)...

so she admits, "well, she is probably just going to be small like her mom,"

 now here is the funny part, the part where it all came together for me, the part where i could finally understand why this ped seemed so concerned, i could now finally see how her mind was thinking...

she continues,"usually we take moms height and dad's height, and put child right in the middle subtracting an inch for mom's side...that puts her at 5 foot 4, or 5 foot 5 inches tall...so 4 foot 11 or 5 foot even is quiet a drop from that."

i actually chuckled out loud lol, at least it wasnt a full on laugh like my response felt like doing , somehow i managed to keep it respectful at least...but 5 FOOT 5 INCHES TALL?! really?! geez, then even i would fail those standards!! there's just no way julia or anyone in my family would hit that height! megan is bigger than julia, in the 5-7 percentile, but i don't see her hitting that height either! so after all this i felt such relief...now i can understand why doctor is "worried", and i really feel it is unneeded concern. she is following texts and graphs that do not apply to my small statured family. i always get so frustrated at them (the graphs) because i feel they are very unaccurate for MANY families out there..not just mine, and they are a cause for needless concern and worry when us momma's worry so much anyway.

by the way...take a wild guess where i fall on the percentile chart..anyone? anyone?

i charted myself on the same chart julia was on with my weight and height at 18 years of age (which has not changed and no i'm not lying) and guess what...

i myself fall in the 1-3 percentile!