Here comes trouble

Last Wednesday was Emery's 9 month checkup (on her 10 month birthday, go figure). I had expected to be told that she was still on her growth curve, to be yelled at for not getting her to eat solid foods, to be advised to wean her but that ultimately, she'll eat when she wants to eat. Why I think I know what to expect when it comes to kids I'll never know. Emery is 16 pounds 6 ounces, putting her squarely in the 5th percentile and dropping her off the growth curve we had been so dutifully following. And while she was in the 50th percentile for height 3 months ago, now she is in the 10th (oh, but maybe that last reading was wrong, maybe). The doctors were satisfied with what we have been doing to try to get her to eat, but deeply concerned that at 10 months she won't swallow anything. The fact that she is so dangerously close to being underweight just makes everything that much more urgent. And that whole waking up every two hours to nurse at night? Apparently the only reason she isn't malnourished. So, keep up the good work sleep deprived Mom! They couldn't find anything anatomically wrong with her and apparently the fact that she puts toys in her mouth, has never been hospitalized, is meeting and exceeding her other milestones and doesn't have reflux means that this isn't due to any of the usual suspects. The verdict? She's just smart. She knows what she wants and isn't willing to give in, even if that means starving herself for 9 or 10 hours. At least that's their guess, I'm going to go ahead and believe it is true and not believe they were just trying to stroke the ego of the poor, good meaning and exhausted mother sitting in the room. So, we have a recommendation in to an occupational therapist to try to devise strategies to trick her into eating, or something like that.

Yeah, this is going well

I'm surprisingly upset by this referral. I really didn't think this was a big deal. Everything I had read indicated that kids will eat when they're ready. Never, ever did occupational therapy turn up in any of my frantic Google searches. I guess I just associate occupational therapy with kids who have developmental delay and I'm not entirely comfortable with Emery being thrown into that group. But, we'll see how it goes. If they can make this transition easier on everyone then my bruised ego will be worth it. I'm also contemplating making unsweetened frozen yogurt so I can mix in random veggies. Yeah, I'm sure that will work.