[flickr id=”8012257268″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]Since birth the girls have been tiny.  Hell, all my kids rock the bottom of the growth chart. Always. It’s in their genes.  Up until 3 kids & a hysterectomy totally made my body go haywire I had insane metabolism.  I remember hours spent in my pediatrician/allergists office playing with the toys he had on display while he discussed my growth chart (and how I was well below 0%tile) with my mom.

It’s a familiar theme.

One that in standard circumstances is a concern, but not panic inducing.

We eat.’

Tons of food.

We just don’t gain.

Metabolism rocks until it actually works against us.  And trust me, as a teenager being asked if you’re anorexic when you eat like a horse is NOT fun.  It really sucks.

But this goes beyond personal suckage.

When you combine Cystic Fibrosis with the words Failure to Thrive.

You get a heap of shit-panic-stuff-the-kids-faces-until-they-can’t-eat-any-more to deal with.

Back in June both my CF kids rocked the weight chart.  For the first time ever the nutritionist said “we dont’ have anything to worry about here, keep doing what you’re doing. They look great.”

For the first time in her entire life Kennedy looked AMAZING. In the 10th%ile for BMI  10th!  Dude, in this family that is some serious awesomeness.  Worth celebrating.

Now, just 3 months later we’ve stalled.  Flatlined.  Kennedy gained almost nothing in the past 3 months.  Her BMI is back at the bottom, in below the 5th%ile.  Amazing how fast the growth chart swoops up to wipe away previous progress.

Again, in an average situation we’d not panic.  But now we have 2 months to get meat on her bones.

2 months.  Make sure at school she’s allowed extra snacks, extra time at lunch to finish.  whatever it takes.

If we don’t put meat on her bones, they put a g-tube in her belly.

In a society where everything is marketed to keep obesity at bay.

I have to find ways to put weight ON my kids.  Lots of it.

So that we can avoid the g-tube.  The g-tube is not welcome here.