Amendment

As an amendment to my post yesterday I would like to add Nathan's place on the growth curve.
Weight: not yet on the curve but moving toward it.
Height: All the way up to the 5th percentile% !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Son Also Rises

Get ready to stand up and cheer.

Success is all around us.

Nathan is climbing back onto the growth curve.

Yes, I really am that crazy pediatrician mom who has been carrying around a self-plotted copy of Nathan's growth curve and foisting it upon other people. The flat line that extends out from the weight curve, past his first birthday, and steadily farther from the 3rd percentile is impressive. His height, after "falling off", has continued to increase, parallelling the curve at about the "-1 percentile". So yes, I show it off to draw shocked gasps from pediatricians, embarrassed downcast looks when they hear it is my child's curve we are examining, and not some unfortunate with a rapidly progressing brain tumor.

But now, let us discuss his meteoric rise.

Drum roll . . . . .

In 3 weeks he has gained 1 pound and grown 3/4 of an inch.

God bless Elecare and giant meals of sugar covered strawberries, oatmeal with extra (soy-free, dairy-free) butter, chicken nuggets covered in brown sugar enhanced ketchup, and Mmmmm cold and tasty Rita's Italian Ice.

Oh, and maybe this has something to do with it . . .

The Hot Stepper

Little scamp! He waited until 15 minutes after I left for work.

The Plot Thickens

The GI doctor called today.

Had I seen Nathan's labs.

No, I had not.

She thought I shouldn't look because it might make me anxious.

It did.

Nathan's blood tests show allergy to milk and soy, which we knew, but also to oat and wheat and corn and peanut and egg.

Now, I have to say that blood tests are not really the most reliable way to assess allergy. The antibodies in blood which are measured by the test, especially at a low level, may not actually translate into actual allergy symptoms. The classic scratch test is the real way to tell what the reaction will be upon exposure.

This, though is what we know.

1. His giant belly deflated within 48 hours of cutting milk out of his diet.

2. This is our Nathan on hummus:

I was trying to feed him hummus. He refused. It got on his face. He smeared it around with his hands. Hives and facial swelling ensued.Hummus is made from garbanzos, a legume and therefore a relative of soybeans. For now, all beans are out.

The milk and soy are two of the lowest blood levels he has. His level for egg is 20 times milk and soy. Eggs scare me now.

He will have to get scratch testing now, but until then we have agreed to cut out milk, soy, egg, and peanut and monitor. If we cut out everything that was "positive" by blood test we would seriously not be able to feed him anything.

The only positive is that this adds fuel to our fight to get the insurance company to help cover the expense of the formula. Since our policy specifically covers "nutritional supplements" and "medical food" we are having trouble understanding how this doesn't fit into one of those categories. But more on that later . . .

Number 7

When I was growing up my only interaction with football was watching the Super Bowl with my dad. I went to 1 high school football game and my college didn't even have a team (to my father's great chagrin). I moved to Pittsburgh in 2001 knowing practically nothing about the sport apart from the shape of the ball.


Living in Pittsburgh, however, you can't miss the Steelers. Football is the city's religion. Pittsburghers are on a first name basis with their players. The proscription against idolatry does not apply to Troy and Hines and Ben.

The team's defense has led Ben Rothlisberger to 2 Super Bowls while I have lived here, and in a town of this size, it is impossible not to get caught up in that excitement. So yes, Dave and I are Steeler fans. Not the type to get our hair buzzed into the Super Bowl logo. Not the type to stand in freezing rain to watch the parade, but the type that put our 2 day old in too big Steeler gear on Super Bowl Sunday and had a little party.

So now our quarterback, "Big Ben", has gotten caught being stupid.
Again.

It wasn't enough that he drove his motor cycle into some unsuspecting motorist while taking full advantage of the inexplicable repealing of the helmet law.
Then, he was involved in an "incident" with an unwilling girl but nothing stuck.
Now, for a second time, allegations have been made by a young woman that he made an unsolicited effort to introduce her to "Little Ben". And while in America one is innocent until proven guilty, a virtual herd has come forward to report on inappropriate things they witnessed on the night in question.

What embarrasses me, however, is not Ben. It's the response of the city.

A few days after this hit the news, I was listening to my morning radio show discuss the fact that Ben had as yet said nothing in his defense. "He doesn't have to," the guy said smugly, "once they announced there was no DNA, there's nothing to say."
OK. So no proof of intercourse but maybe an apology for the rest of the evening's behavior and for again embarrassing the team would be in order? Maybe if Steeler Nation weren't all rushing to his defense he might take a little responsibility for himself.

Many of the team's fans are more outraged by the sanctions (a 4-6 game suspension) being imposed by the NFL than by anything Ben may have done. Some, including a few I previously respected, refuse to hear anything bad said about their hero, and can muster up a lot of vitriol about "that girl".

I just don't get it. This guy is hero and role model to a lot of kids. And their parents don't care that he's running around acting like an irresponsible, unethical frat boy?
I care. I am glad he is being publicly punished. I hope he doesn't hurt anyone else before the city comes to their senses.

Caught In The Act

Yes, that's a prescription bottle.

Yes, it's empty.

Yes, he fished it out of the trash.

Yes, he took off the child-safe top.

Yes, we're in trouble.