[asauer]

Does anyone know if your child was a preemie? Our DD is doing really well in terms of motor skill and cognative development, but her physical devel worries me a bit. The 'official' report was that she was full term but she was only 4lbs. at birth (came home at 12mos). Also, she is TINY- wearing 6 mo. clothing at 15.5 mos. Other things are that her hair is growing very slowly, in fact she's not gaining much weight, her mongolian spots are wide spread and haven't even started to fade. Plus, she only has 2 tiny teeth (bottom two front). It's tough b/c DS (from Guat) is the same age and has almost all his baby teeth and is growing by leaps and bounds. Are these signs that she was a preemie? Should I stop worrying or are these things that I should get checked out?

[nurse_reedle]

Has she seen a doctor yet? If her pediatrician thinks everything is fine, then I would get a second opinion. If they think everything is fine, then unless my mommy radar was going off (and it sounds like yours is) then I would just say fine, but if I still thought there was a problem, I would keep searching until I found an answer.

[HopeandaPrayer]

Hi, although we don't have our little girl home yet we were told she was premature but we don't know how early she was. The Foster Mom said she was born at 7 months but I think she probably was more like 4-6 weeks early. She weighed 3.5 lbs at birth. She just turned 1 on May 10th and she is doing great. She is actually on the US pediatric charts at about 25% for weight, height and head (and this is NOT taking into account her premature birth). She is wearing 12 month clothes and is trying to stand but is not walking yet. She has 3 teeth I think. I personally would not worry much about the teeth issue because I think it varies widely among kids. I know the doctor in Guatemala put our little girl on liquid vitamins and also prescribed a supplemntal formula to help her gain weight. I think our daughter has pretty much caught up with herself if that makes sense. When I visited her in April she was a lot chubbier than she was when we saw her in November. Also, our little girl's hair had grown tremendously from November to April. Also, I have not gotten her May measurements put last month she weighed over 18 pounds so I am thinking she is near 20 pounds now. She is probably about 28.5 inches.

I would have your little girl checked out thoroughly just to put your mind at ease. Maybe there are things the doctor can prescribe to help with the weight issues and the slow hair growth. She is probably fine and will just be a petite little girl. Do you know if her birthmom was petite? Also, there is avery good chance she WAS full term. I think I read somewhere that the average birth weight for Guatemalan babies is just a little over 5 pounds.

Good luck and keep us updated.

[krafmatic]

We believe my guys were born 8-10 weeks early. We don't know their weight at birth because they were in the hospital and the hosp. wouldn't release any info them for their entire stay at the hosp (they were there a month). At 1 month, when they arrived at the hogar, they were 4#1oz and 4#2oz.

While my guys are definitely delayed, something doesn't seem right with your little one. I would definitely dig into it more with your pediatrician, or if need be another ped.

The cause of these things are all over the place...including parasites.

Keep me updated.

[k22726]

Our little girl was 4 lbs at birth and is now seven months. She has her May doctor's appointment today, but she was 15 lbs at a little over six months. She's quite chubby for her length. She's grown a lot of hair between the ages of four and six months. She seems to be moving into teething, because she gnaws on everything and her gums are quite white. Of course I'm not sure how long before teeth appearing these things begin...

Not sure if this helps, but at least you can compare, if you like

[Guatemom]

I don't know if this will help at all, but maybe for comparison, too--Cristian was only 5 lbs 15 oz, and I don't know if that's at birth or at 12 days old when he came into care. He has a cleft lip, but that didn't seem to hinder him growth-wise. He's 1 now, and 20 lbs, doing great. He only has 2 teeth, also on the bottom front. He's walking and doing very well. So if he was a preemie, he's making up for it now. His hair is very thin, but he also does not have a lot of the typical 'Mayan' characteristics either. We attribute his hair to his birthfather.
Connor on the other hand was 'normal' weight at 7.4, and had a mouthful of teeth by 1 yr. He'd cut them 2 at a time! My ped says Cristian is very healthy (other than ear-issues)...so I am at ease with that my lil guys are just growing very differently.
As for the spots, Connor turns 4 in July and his haven't faded much at all.
I would sit down with your ped and ask him straight out. Even make a list of questions if you need to so you won't get sidetracked (I know it's easy for me to get in there and forget what I wanted to ask!), and make sure he answers you. The lack of hair-growth and not gaining weight is what concerns me. lack of teeth and fading spots I think vary with the child. Definitely check with your ped, and keep us all posted!

[kimbo1]

Originally Posted by asauer

Does anyone know if your child was a preemie? Our DD is doing really well in terms of motor skill and cognative development, but her physical devel worries me a bit. The 'official' report was that she was full term but she was only 4lbs. at birth (came home at 12mos). Also, she is TINY- wearing 6 mo. clothing at 15.5 mos. Other things are that her hair is growing very slowly, in fact she's not gaining much weight, her mongolian spots are wide spread and haven't even started to fade. Plus, she only has 2 tiny teeth (bottom two front). It's tough b/c DS (from Guat) is the same age and has almost all his baby teeth and is growing by leaps and bounds. Are these signs that she was a preemie? Should I stop worrying or are these things that I should get checked out?

Yes, we did. He was born at 34 weeks at 3 lbs, 2 ozs. Now he is home, almost 10 months & weighs 16 lbs!!!! He has done really well, but is still just in the 3rd percentile on height & 5th on weight.

He just started sitting up last week, & just really started showing an interest in food for the first time in the past week as well.

All that said, we are getting in the proccess of getting him evaluated by speech, physical & occupational therapists, & trying to make sure everything seems ok....the results of that first meeting we will get on Friday.

Check out our blog to see pics & hear more of the results!!! (which I will post after we hear!)

I would say....follow your gut & have your baby evaluated if you think you should....

[mountainmama]

Our little boy weighed 4 lbs and 12 oz at birth. The paper work said he was premie, but we don't know how early.

We brought him home at 4.5 months and he weighed 12 lbs 12 oz. He is doing great and is now almost 4.

The only thing I noticed with him was that he couldn't really put a lot of weight on his legs when we brought him home. The exersaucer helped with that.
He is still very petite, but is doing fine.

Amy

[jennsult]

When we received our daughters referral, we were told she "may" have been pre-mature and she spent the first 3 months with her birthmother. She only weighed 5 lbs at 3 months. She came home at 12 months and was not even crawling yet. She has come a long way, but at 17 months she is not walking yet. Doctor is not too concerned but we will keep en eye on her.

[auntiepippi]

Our DD was born in the 8th month we are told and she was 4.5 lbs at 9 days old. She sounds very much like your daughter. Throughout our adoption, all the medical reports said she was genetically small but on target developmentally. Try not to compare your DD with others because all children are different. Some gain weight and "catch up" quickly to the charts and some don't --- like your DD and mine.

Our DD is came home at 7 1/2 months and weighed 12 lbs. Now she is almost 19 months. At her 18 month visit, she only weighed only 16.5 pounds, way below the charts. She wears size 9 months pants and 12 months shirts. She gains weight very slowly, but is about at the 5th percentile in height. She is THIN yet eats very well. She also has mongolian spots that have not faded -- which is normal. She does have several teeth on top and bottom. Her hair growth seems average I guess. Our doctor is not worried, as she is very smart and very physically active. She is just very petite and will likely be so as an adult.

It is hard not to worry when you likely get comments everyday about how small your DD is (we get the same comments!). If you are worried though, ask your doctor and maybe get a second opinion if you still have concerns.

Donna

[RGirl]

Does anyone know if your child was a preemie? Our DD is doing really well in terms of motor skill and cognative development, but her physical devel worries me a bit. The 'official' report was that she was full term but she was only 4lbs. at birth (came home at 12mos). Also, she is TINY- wearing 6 mo. clothing at 15.5 mos. Other things are that her hair is growing very slowly, in fact she's not gaining much weight, her mongolian spots are wide spread and haven't even started to fade. Plus, she only has 2 tiny teeth (bottom two front). It's tough b/c DS (from Guat) is the same age and has almost all his baby teeth and is growing by leaps and bounds. Are these signs that she was a preemie? Should I stop worrying or are these things that I should get checked out?

My daughter was reported to be full-term, but I have no way to know for sure. She was close to your daughter's weight at birth - 4 pounds, 8 ounces.

I have never worried about whether she was premature - she is proportional as far as size and developmentally on track. If you feel that your daughter is developmentally behind, there is no reason not to get her checked.

As far as her size, I don't think it is uncommon for children from Guatemala. My daughter is 16 months old and weighs just over 18 pounds. She wears 6-9 and 6-12-month clothes and can actually still fit a few 3- to 6-month sleepers. Her doctor isn't concerned because she is proportional and healthy.

As far as teeth, my daughter has always been a late teether - she had no teeth until she was 10 months old and has 6 now. I have known a lot of other kids who were just as "slow" to get teeth.

As for the Mongolian spots, I may be wrong, but I think this is really early to think that they would have faded. Someone on here is most certainly more informed than I on that topic though!

I don't know if any of this helps ease your mind, but if you are really concerned, it would certainly be a good idea to talk to your doc. Good luck!

[asauer]

Thanks everyone for your posts- it's helped to tone down my first-time mommy panic. I'm still going to raise these concerns at her 15mo check up but I do feel a bit less worried knowing that she's not the only one. She's doing everything else on time (walking, climbing, fine motor etc.) so that should tell me something too I guess. Thanks again- I knew I could count on y'all!