Yay, Average!!!

When Chris was born 24 weeks early, he weighed 1 lb, 6 oz, and was only 11 inches long. He wasn't even on the growth charts pediatricans use to ascertain whether a child is growing "normally." Now they have growth charts for preemies, but 13 years ago they did not. Even if they had, I suspect that his "micropreemie" status would have still kept him off the charts, since the vast majority of preemies are not nearly as little as he was. He didn't even get to the BOTTOM of the growth chart (1st percentile) until he was well over 3.

The first year of Chris' life he had horrible gastroesophageal reflux. He vomited several times a day, usually all over us, when he was eating. I gave up breastfeeding and pumped for 15 months total instead because it seemed to cause him to vomit. On my first Mother's Day, I ended up in frustrated tears because not only was he not interested in drinking his bottle, but he was also not interested in solid food. The doctors were worried about "failure to thrive" and several suggested a g-tube, which we resisted. The kidney doctor wanted to put him on human growth hormones!! (We resisted that, too, based on the fact that said kidney doctor was as tall as a giraffe, and he seemed to think that Chris' life would be irreparably damaged if he were short!)

Earlier this year Chris grew taller than me. That is not too difficult to accomplish, given the fact that I am only 5'0"--but it was a milestone!

Today he had his 13-year checkup this morning, and unbelievably, he is now at the 50th percentile for height! Even more unbelievable is that he's just under 50th percentile for weight...since he's still mighty skinny.

He eats like a horse. He's now discovered our favorite Trader Joe's ginger granola, which I measure out every morning because of its calorie content, and he's eating it all up rapidly. We call him "the bottomless pit."

Average is a HUGE milestone in our lives. Hip, hip, hooray!!!