A surprise we didn't know about.................

.......this is about our sweet (yet diva-fied) daughter, Rebecca. Yesterday was her 4 year old checkup with her pediatrician. For the most part everything went well. 4 shots in her little legs though. *plenty of screaming for everyone within a radius of 500 feet to listen to* But what caught us off guard was something like this: We feel there is a concern with Rebecca's growth.

Huh? *they were never really worried about it before*


BREAK: If you need coffee, a soda, by all means, go get it.....this is a little long.


See, back in 2004, when we got Rebecca from China, she was malnourished and quite stunted in growth. (Even to the point that her head, at 15 months, wasn't fully closed up at the top of her head. Like babies have their tops of their heads close by usually 1 year old.........at 15 months, hers was NOT closed up and wasn't truly even together yet.) So we knew that she had some possible growth issues because of not being fed appropriate foods and given formula from the start. Her orphanage did what they could, I'm sure. But.....being as poor as they were, they made due with what they had.

Enter the picture at 2 & 3 years old.........Rebecca's head is fully closed up, she's been on vitamins and mineral supplements........eating well. She grows in a "normal" manner for a Chinese little girl. Mind you, still far below the "average American girl growth charts" but she's ok. (in the <5%) That was ok.

Enter to yesterday, at age 4 years old. She gets measured. (like normal) Her weight is holding at 30 pounds. (same as last time) Her height is still holding at around 35 inches. HUH? Excuse me? Rebecca has truly only grown from last year to this year between 1/4 to 1/2 an inch! That's it! I thought, ok. Our pediatrician said she would be a little shorty. That's ok. Um, apparently it is......but they are erring on the side of caution to be sure. Let me explain..

Rebecca's measurement for the time that she has been with us, were faxed over to Children's Hospital (in Washington, DC) yesterday for an endrocronologist to look at. More information was given to him and he suggested a full work up on her genetics to make sure something wasn't being OVERLOOKED. Her not growing that much could be one of three different things. 1) she's just going to be a late bloomer; no biggie there! 2) there is something genetically wrong; we are being evaluated for that right now. 3) her biological parents were small people, therefore, she will be small; again, no biggie there.

As a result of yesterdays meeting/consultation with her pediatrician and the other doctors (2 from Calvert, one from Children's) they said we should go ahead and rule out anything genetically wise. So that's what we are doing. Rebecca had BATTLE SCARS YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!! We have the "hard of hearing" ears on today to prove it!

Rebecca had a Bone Age Density work up and a (oh my, how was it said) either Cryo work up or Karo work up for Chromosomal makeup. To put it bluntly and in MY terms, they will look at every part of her genetic makeup to see if there is anything wrong or if she's just going to be SHORT!

Poor Becca Boo.......4 shots, 1 drawn out blood test through her hand (couldn't find any veins in her arms worth beans) and some pictures of her BONES! We will also be able to find out what her TRUE chronological age is! Not that we are wondering, mind you, but her birthdate IS estimated! Could be interesting. Hopefully it's boring as all!!!!!!

Pray with us that her tests will come back ok. If she's short, she's short! I'm only 5'4. The pediatrician doesn't see Rebecca over 5'2. (that's a MAX) We will find out the results of all the tests in about 2 weeks. Until then, we wait and pray for her!
We'd appreciate your prayers too!!

Some of you have been asking. YES, Rebecca was from the NON SPECIAL NEEDS (NSN) program in China.

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