This story really touched me as my 2 youngest children were both diagnosed with failure to thrive as infants and with short stature when they were toddlers. My daughter was born almost a month early and weighed a mere 4lbs 12 oz when we brought her home from the hospital. She was followed closely for the first 3 years of her life and never broke the 3rd percentile for height/weight. She also has an insatiable sweet tooth and eats as many cupcakes as she can. She remains quite petite at 9 1/2 years old wearing a toddler sized 11 shoe and sized 6x clothing. However, she is "brilliant", happy and loves to dance. She continues to be followed by both a pediatric endocrinologist and gastro-enterologist. So far, she has tested negative for CD. My son was born a healthy 6lbs 15 oz and was in the 78th percentile for height. However, at 5 weeks old he was diagnosed with iso-immune hemolytic anemia and was hospitalized with an enlarged liver and spleen and required immediate blood transfusions. his height/weight percentile declined rapidly and by age 3 was down to the <3 percentile. He also has a diagnosis of short stature. No More Cupcakes Tummy Aches brought tears to my eyes thinking about my son and any other child living with the heartbreak of being "different".
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