Who's the "Big" Brother Now?

24.8lbs to 23.8lbs...Hayden wins!  This is the first time since August 2007 when the boys were still in the NICU that Hayden has weighed more.  Nick still has him beat 33 inches to 32.5 inches.  Nicholas is usually 1.5 inches taller, so Hayden has come along way in the growth department.  The feeding tube has been great for him (I am actually writing this while feeding him).  That was a really hard decision for us to make.  We did everything possible to try to get him to eat more and to make the most of the calories he would take.  Still, it felt like I was failing him because I couldn't figure out that magic thing to make him eat.  I'm his mom.  I am supposed to be able to feed my child.  My head knows that isn't the case, but my heart still feels like I'm failing him since his willingness to eat orally has not improved at all.  The fear of the unknown also played a factor in the making the decision on the feeding tube harder.  Just as we were once terrified of a shunt being placed in his head when he was big enough.  The shunt turned out to be a great thing, too.  Once it was clear that no matter what we tried, it was just too hard for Hayden to eat, we asked for the feeding tube.  We are still glad that we did. Besides the feeding tube, I'm sure that the 40mg/day of steroids that he was on for a couple of weeks (for his seizures) probably helped, too.  It is most likely that Nick will always be taller because of Hayden's cerebral palsy.  Since his muscles are so spastic, his growth is likely to be at least somewhat impacted. 

When the home healthcare nurse came today she wasn't sure what scale to bring in, so she did what I would have done and brought in the baby scale.  I put Hayden on the scale and it took only a second to realize that he weighed too much for it!!  It only took 2 years, but he finally outgrew the scale.  Weighing him now is a painful process for mommy and daddy since he has to be weighed on an adult scale.  Which means that one of us has to step on it without him and then again holding him.  Tony was already at work,so I was the lucky one to get weighed (after I verified that my weight would not be in his chart).  Maybe this is the motivtion I will need to make time to excercise.