Eli

Sitting in a chair? You're doin' it wrong.

God is with me at all times. -- McGuffey Primer

For those who aren't aware, we took Eli to see an endocrinologist today. He's always been a tiny guy, hovering around the 3rd percentile for height (on the growth charts). His pediatrician has never been concerned about it, so I haven't been either.

When his first year of school began to get closer, I did start to worry a little bit. In Pre-K, no one is going to notice if you're the shortest kid. The older you get, the more people will notice. Now, if he's going to be a short dude, that's fine.

There are plenty of short dudes in our families. There are plenty of average and tall dudes, as well. I just wanted to make sure that this was a normal short stature and not the result of a medical problem. So, his doctor ordered a bone age test. It's quite simple; they take an x-ray of his wrist and send the film to a specialist, who determines his bone age. That test came back showing that his bone age was only 3.5 years (his physical age being 5 years).

That was enough of a discrepancy to warrant some blood work and a trip to the endocrinologist, to make sure he didn't have a hormone problem. The blood tests were all normal. It took forever to get in to see the specialist (apparently there's only one office of pediatric endocrinologists in the whole city), but today was the day. The visit could not have gone better, really. I was worried that we were going to be entering a battle with a pill-pushing know-it-all (not that I have issues with doctors, or anything...), but nothing could be further from the truth.

The doctor said that the pediatrician had already run all the appropriate blood work and, as we know, it was all normal. The most reassuring thing she said was that the delayed bone growth was actually a GOOD sign. That means that he will probably just enter puberty a little later than his peers and continue growing for a couple of years after they are all done. Is he going to hate that when he gets older? Probably, but it's still great news!

We are supposed to go back to the endocrinologist in 4 months and have another bone age test in June 2014, both to make sure that his growth isn't slipping farther behind. I'll keep you updated, but I really don't anticipate any problems. Hooray!