First Nutritionist Appointment

Colby went today for his first visit with his nutritionist. I have to say that I was very worried that she would look at me like I was awful for feeding him peanut butter, cookies, hot dogs, etc, but it was exactly the opposite. She even suggested that I start trying to get him to dip his foods into high fat/calorie dips. One example she gave was dipping hot dogs in gravy instead of ketchup. Yikes! This is so weird for me, because it is just the opposite of my mindset. I am always reading labels for the low calorie, low fat, and somewhat healthy foods. Now, I have to load his foods with heavy whipping cream, sour cream, gravy, cheeses, etc. It looks like I may need to invest in a Paula Deen cookbook. I also may have to prepare his foods separately...I don't need to be on this weight gain plan!


I left the appointment today with mixed emotions. On one hand, I want to do whatever I can to help him put on some weight. He is still under 15 lbs right now. On the other hand, I feel like a horrible mom for allowing him to eat such fatty foods. I have to wonder...am I starting him off with horrible eating habits that will stay with him? I guess there is always something that I will worry about. Mommy guilt never quits!

I am very glad that we met with the nutritionist today, though. Hopefully she will be able to follow Colby closely and help him finally start putting on some much needed weight. Our plan for now is:

• I have to complete a food journal for 3 days and fax it back to her to analyze (get a better idea at how many calories he actually consumes in a day)


• Add at least 3-4 calorie boosters per day. Examples of calorie boosters are: adding powdered milk into puddings, potatoes, vegetables, etc, adding sweetened condensed milk to puddings, milkshakes, etc, adding gravy to foods or using it as dip, using evaporated milk in place of whole milk.


• Add Carnation Instant Breakfast to his whole milk.
• Continue giving him his 3-4 bottles of breast milk each day. Since he is not eating great, this milk is providing him with some much needed nutrients. Glad we invested in that deep freezer!


• Eat at least one more snack during the day...3 meals and 2-3 snacks
  
• Frequent weight checks with his pediatrician (about every 2 weeks)


• Follow up with her in 2 months

At least we have some sort of plan now. The hard part will be just getting him to actually eat! Jason always says, "we can add calorie boosters all day long, but if he doesn't ingest any of the food, it doesn't really do him much good."

Since this whole post is about his eating, I thought I would include some recent pictures of him eating his favorites foods:

"Yo Baby" Yogurt

Donuts are his favorite bedtime snack

A spoon full of peanut butter