More camel milk GAINS

Normally when you see the word "gain" in my blog, it refers to progress being made with skills or behaviors.  Not this time.  This time, the gaining I am referring to is quite literal!

Just a few months ago, both boys were severely underweight and extremely low on the growth chart.  Gavin had been labeled "failure to thrive" on a few occasions and Grayson was even more recently given this same title, because he crossed over two percentage thresholds on the growth chart, in the wrong direction.  And these boys could EAT.

I started noticing that Grayson, who was always ahead by a few clothing sizes as an infant, was suddenly falling behind in his clothing sizes.  He wasn't growing and as he aged, the gap increased.  He was still able to wear 4T pants up until he was 5 1/2 years old!  Gavin on the other hand was born small and grew slow, right from the beginning.  When we took him to an allergist regarding his sensitivities to dairy and soy, the paperwork I was handed clearly spelled it out in black and white, he was failure to thrive, not even 3% on the growth chart!  So when I share the changes we have seen, keep these little details in mind.

If you have been reading my blog, you know that we started the camel milk at the beginning of May, the 2nd to be exact (gotta love my journal!).  Unfortunately, the last time I personally documented Gavin's growth chart was in March, but I can tell you that his growth was at a standstill for close to a year, and I had been weighing him just about daily right up until we started the camel milk and he was STILL the same weight, at minimum.  On March 25th, he was just under 34 inches tall and 27 pounds, a number that is etched into my mind, because of how long he remained there, with no fluctuation whatsoever.  And if I could tell you how much this child would eat, he was NEVER satisfied.  It was disturbing really.  He would get down from having two full bowls (adult sized) of oatmeal and blueberries with coconut oil and nectar on top just to run around the table and tell me he was still hungry.  Before we stopped giving him eggs, he could eat 4 eggs, numerous pieces of bacon and still ask for more, at TWO years old.  He had numerous snacks between meals and I was even adding oils to just about every meal to increase his calories by 300 per meal.  I couldn't understand how a child could eat SO much and gain nothing.  When we learned of his parasitic infection, that had us believing it could be related, and perhaps it was, we haven't retested recently.

So here is what we saw when we added the camel milk.

Gavin at a standstill of 27 lbs for ages, almost 34 inches tall last documented in March.  He was actually finally up at a whole 10% for weight and 2.2% for height.  Still failure to thrive in terms of height.  The doctor even talked to us a bit about short stature at his last appointment.

Grayson's growth had noticeably slowed, he was floating around 39-40 lbs for a while and his height didn't seem to change for over a year, just based on his clothing.  He didn't need anything new for SO long, and we actually found ourselves reusing clothes from the previous year in the last few seasons, that was the ultimate shocker!

On May 2nd, Gavin was still 27 lbs, I know, because I was weighing him nightly as part of our bedtime routine.  On May 4th, he felt incredibly heavy to me suddenly so I plopped him on the scale out of curiosity and the number glaring back at me was 30 lbs!  THIRTY POUNDS!  He gained 3 pounds in just days!  I was sure he would lose it, that it was temporary and would retreat.  It never did!

Grayson didn't grow in the first weeks of the milk, at least in weight, we never thought to check his height, but I started noticing that both boys were growing out of their pants suddenly, and I mean like highwaters.  And their shoes were suddenly too tight to wear.

On May 23rd Gavin weighed in at 31 lbs and 34.5 inches tall!

On May 29th he was still 31 pounds, but was now measuring at 35 inches!  His percentages on the growth chart went from, are you ready for this....10% for weight to 46%!!!  His height went from 2.2% to 7%!!  He quadrupled his weight percentage and tripled his height percentage!!  That is all in less than a month. 

On May 29th I also measured Grayson since I was noticing his clothing shrinking on him by the day and he was 43 inches tall and 41.5 lbs, which means he had started also gaining weight.  We were so shocked by Gavin's gains we were all focused on him, meanwhile, Grayson was growing in the shadows now too!  It was more steadily, but it was definitely happening!  He was now 10% for height and 23% for weight.  Still on the lower side of the scale, but obviously better than he had to have been before his gains.

Today I measured them both again and in about a week, Grayson has jumped from 10% for height to 13% (43.5 inches) and from 23% in weight to 33% (43.5 lbs)!  Oh and I should clarify that I always use the same website for these calculations so I am comparing apples to apples.

Gavin has slowed down in his growth, but is still growing steadily.  Today he was 31.5 lbs and 35.5 inches!  The new percentages are 47% for weight and 8% for height!  His eating has significantly slowed since starting the camel milk and this is what I am in awe of....he went from eating like a man and still not growing, to barely finishing any of his meals or snacks, skipping snacks and GROWING rapidly!!

So to recap, in just over two months, two boys who were at a complete standstill in growth, jumped significant growth chart percentages and with nothing to blame except camel milk!  Just take a look at those dates and numbers highlighted above, I am nothing short of amazed.  Do I think it's worth the cost and the drive to obtain the milk?  What do you think?