Failure to Thrive

Annie took Parker in to the doctor yesterday. When you're first born you're supposed to gain about an ounce a day (I've been doing that for years). At this point Parker should have gained a pound and a half, but she's actually lost a little over a pound.

They call that failure to thrive. I'm not completely sure what that means yet, but I know Cooper was having similar issues. With him, it was a little more obvious because he threw everything up. It made sense that he was having trouble gaining any weight. It's scary to me that Parker isn't gaining weight because she isn't really throwing up all that often.

So, we're taking her into Children's hospital to see how to best help her to thrive. It's incredibly scary to me to deal with the delicate nature of 7 pound babies. Almost everything worries me.
It's amazing the level of comfort I had with Griffin the day after Cooper was born. I went from being worried about everything he did, to letting him juggle knives while learning to ride his bike.

I think it's perspective. He was our little boy one day...and then I got a good look at how little they can actually be. With Coop, he was our baby - but next to Parker now...he's huge.

I think we all go through periods where we aren't really thriving. We might not be shrinking, but we certainly aren't growing (spiritually, emotionally, economically, socially, intellectually...) and some would argue that "if you aren't moving forward, then moving backward" Sometimes we forget because we haven't gone through some sort of tragedy....and we just sort of drift. Big failures often help us bring things into perspective. Lots of little slips just tend to push us in the wrong direction while we're blissfully unaware of why things aren't going so great.

I used to meet with a friend every Friday morning. He'd encourage me when I was going in the right direction, kick me in the butt when I was being dumb, and pick me up when I was on the ground. He helped me to thrive. I miss that weekly time.

I know there are people who walk into a room and breathe life into it...and others who suck the life out of a room. I think I need a few more life breathers in my day to day interactions. I need folks who will point me to life and help me to thrive.

I also need my little girl to start gaining some weight and stop worrying mom and dad...