Sophie (in the middle) with her Xiaonan SWI 'Cousins'June 22, 2007
Wuhan, Hubei
We knew Sophie was petite when we were united with her. At 18 months she was the oldest in our group at 18 months of age. The other two little girls were 10 months old. Sophie was, by far, much smaller. Oh, how cute!...
...but maybe not.
For the past several months I had begun to become slightly concerned about Sophie's obvious lack of growth since we adopted her in June of 2007. So much that I had been know to weigh and measure her daily at various times over the past few months. I even asked Neil if he thought she was a Little Person, to which he said, "Oh, no...she is just petite."
Today Sophie had her 3 Year Old Checkup/Well Visit. Her pediatrician charted her weight and height and informed me that Sophie is not on the charts (- 3% for height/*almost* 3% for weight). Her 1st 2 year old molar is just beginning to come in. Her hair has grown only about 1" in the past 1 year & 7 months.
She had been at 0% for height at her 2 Year Old Checkup.
So, she really isn't 'curving' on the growth chart.
Our Pediatrician (whom I LOVE!) is cautiously concerned. Sophie is to have a 'Bone Scan' - whatever the heck that is.
The good Doc said that maybe Sophie's age is incorrect. Well, it might not be exact (after all, they are all pretty much guestimates), but not by more than a week, I believe. She remarked that if Sophie were 2 years old then she would be in the 50% range. Well, for Sophie to be 2 years old that would mean that we would have received her referral one month before she was born, and that when we adopted her in June 2007 she would have been just 6 months old. Now 6 months seems awfully young for a child to be walking steadily and talking! In addition, although the kid is smart as a whip ("scary smart," as Neil says!), I really don't know many 2 year olds who speak in 7-8 word sentences, carry on a conversation, color within the lines, dress and undress themselves, count to 20, say the alphabet, know their colors, yada, yada, yada.
Sophie is 3. And she is tiny.
So bone scan we will have. Follow up appointment with the Doc in 6 months. If no 'curve' then on to a Pediatric Endocrinologist. The Doc's concern is growth hormone deficiency.
I google this.
Bad idea.
I join yet another Yahoo group.
I get a headache. Two Advil...say prayers to my Lord who I KNOW loves Sophie.
And I go to bed.
Night.
Mary
21 comments:
I know that you are concerned about your little peanut. Sophie truly is a sweet little girl. Perhaps she is just waiting for something before she catches us all by surprise? Please keep us posted.
Hugs!
Oh Mary...another mother's worry. I will keep little Sophie in my prayers and you too!
Love,
Robin
Did you look at the Chinese chart? Yeah, she's a peanut but she sure is a cute peanut!!! :)
Let us know how the bone scan turns out. I think one reason they do those is to help determine age.
Hugs,
Carla
Paige just had blood work to check her thyroid function for this very same reason. At her three year visit she was 5 % for weight and below the charts for height. We should have the results from this screen tomorrow.
April
Hi, Carly! Actually Sophie (and Livie's) doctor is Chinese herself, and is in fact the adoptive mom to a Korean boy. Although she isn't technically an 'adoption specialist,' she has made it a point to familiarize herself with Internation Adoption Medicine by attending conferences and continuously studying this area, plus she is the pediatrician to about 80% of FCC South Florida Families! LOL
Dr. Liang did, in fact, chart Sophie on the Chinese Charts, and she is almost at 3% for weight and almost at 1% for height. The larger concern is that instead of having a 'curve' on the charts, Sophie has an almost level line. Sophie is definitely the size of an 18-24 month old child (clothing size she is now - FINALLY! - wearing!), so I just don't understand what the bone scan will show. I would imagine it will say, "Hey, this is a two year old child," but I KNOW she is 3 years old (we also have photos of her dating back to when she first arrived at her SWI at one day old, plus her foster care reports, complete with photos). Sigh.
Paige-Oh please let me know what you find out! Sophie is also having blood work (including thyroid) done.
April- Sorry I called you Paige...I think I need another cup of coffee! ;-)
Hey Mary,
What would you do if there was nothing to worry about? I don't know how you stay sane half the time. I know you are concerned about your little peanut. Good luck with the bone scan. Rich was actually talking about doing something for Hansen cos he is so short, even Cady is catching him up. Let us know how things go. I hope Sophie has a growth spurt sometime soon. she may be tiny, but she sure is cute.
praying for you and your family!
Sophie is so sweet-
Oh, Mary, I'm sorry. I know how I felt when we had to test the Tongginator for melamine... over three years after we arrived home. Huge hugs to you.
I get the lack of curve versus placement on the chart. We were so there for awhile. The Tongginator surprised everyone with a HUGE growth spurt just before her third birthday (four inches in six weeks) and another more recent one (almost four inches in less than three months).
I will pray that the tests go well and that little Sophie is just one to shoot up quickly... and a little late.
Mary,
So sorry your family is having to deal with this. I can tell you from my own experience that nothing is more frightening than doing your own medical research on the internet.
STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER!
...or at least try to. Easy advice to give but hard to follow, I know.
We're hoping you get some good news, soon.
Lots of love,
Carol and Taylor
Mary, I will send positive thoughts and prayers your way. It looks like her smaller size has not stopped her one bit! She sounds like she is right on target developmentally in other areas. But I am with the doc on this one, and it is better to be safe than sorry and check every possible reason. I am hoping and praying there is nothing wrong and that Sophie is just petite! (((Hugs)))
Hi Mary,
Paige's pediatrician called and said her thyroid screen was fine. They did chromosomal testing earlier. At this point they aren't going to do any further testing. Times like this it would be nice to have some family history. If her parents were 4'8" we would know not to be concerned. I think I read on your blog once that Sophie likes to wear heels. Paige is amazing in them, which is probably a good thing. :-)
Best wishes on your search for answers.
Mary,
My prayers are with you all as you wait to take the tests and find out the results. Hang in there and keep us posted!!!
blessings and hugs,
Nicole
Mary, I enjoy your blog...visit The Glen I gave you an award!
Mary,
We went through this with Izzy. Her thyroid was low and her growth hormones were non-exsistent. After starting the synthroid to replace her thyroid, she started to grow. She has grown 3 inches and her hair is finally growing like crazy. We are not going to do growth hormones for now. Her endocrinologist says he thinks her hormones will jump back in with her thyroid medicne and good nutrition. We will recheck them later. She still has some 18-24 month clothes that she wears just fine. I can see her legs starting to grow though. ((hugs)). You have my number if you want to talk.
Hi there! I'm new to your blog (and blogging in general)...I saw your web address on a CCAI mail list email you wrote. We are in line (practically the end of the line) to adopt from China. I enjoy reading about other bio/adopted families as ours will be when we met our little girl.
Your family is beautiful. Hope you don't mind if I follow along?
Maybe little Sophie just wants to surprise everyone with a ginormous growth spurt soon :) HOping the bone scan goes well and gives you good info on what, if anything, is going on. Hang in there!
Mary-
Praying for Sophie...and you! Please keep us posted after she has her scan.
Marcy
CCAI WCP
We are very interest in this topic; hoping you all will share what you find as our little AA may have these issues. We don't know yet (she was a preemie and hasn't grown much since being home and is very small).
Please keep writing!
Alyzabeth's Mommy for 4.7 Months!
Hang in there. A bone scan is something they do to determine if her bones are growing correctly and it can also determine age more accurately than anything else. I have had several friends who have had this done. Please let me know if you want to talk to them.
I didn't realize your daughter was from Hubei. My daughter is too. I own the Hubei Yahoo group (hubeiadoptiontrips is the name of the group) if you want to join us there :-) I do know many of our members have children who are smaller than normal.
Big hugs to you!!
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