Stacey took him in for a weight check. Unfortunately, he hadn't gained any weight since October. In fact, he had actually lost an ounce or two over the past four months. Head circumference grows first, then height, and lastly, weight. This concerned us a little bit. He's been doing really well but this brought up more suspicions that there is something else going on that we just don't know about.
In hopes that solid food would help, we pressed on with the plan. We cut his feedings during the day in half but kept his night feeding. The medical staff wanted us to get at least 1,000 calories in him a day. Cutting back his feedings a little bit is better then stopping cold turkey because it doesn't put his body into starvation mode. He did really well. He ate more then usual. With the help of certain junk foods in the afternoon we averaged 1,000 calories or more a day. When we took him in the following week, he had maintained his weight. Things were looked promising.
The day we took him in for a weight check a week after we started he got the flu. He couldn't keep water or food down, so over the course of this past week we paid two visits to the pediatrician just to make sure he was OK. Stacey had to deal with the vomit and not being able to put him down at all, to the point where she couldn't even shower. He's since gotten over his sickness except for the massive diaper explosions, so hopefully he'll recover soon.
Unfortunately this derailed our first attempt to get him off of the pump. Also, because of his size, by the end of the week you could see his ribs and spine. The poor little guy just doesn't have any reserves, so when he gets sick, he gets hit hard. The pediatrician even asked Stacey if we had covered all of the basis with the GI doctor, just because it seems like something is still going on. We don't really have any other options other then to repeat mal-absorption tests or what not. The only other avenue we haven't really explored is with an Endocrinologist. Perhaps there is something in his field or something genetic going on.
Our hope is that on the genetic side he just has small people genes and that once he starts eating real food he'll be his normal, small self.