In the end she’s just “petite”

Everyone already knows that Iman’s weight has been a big issue in our household. I’ve been told by others, time and time again to “let it go” and “not to worry”. But there are always underlying issues when the Mom and Dad are concerned about something. Iman was growing perfectly fine up until 7 months, and then from that point onward, things just slipped from our control.

First when she was around 9 months, she fell really ill. This was the same time that Omair went to Ireland. So I was in Karachi, on my own with a very very sick baby. During the time in Karachi Iman was sick for 4 consecutive weeks. Also during that time she lost a lot of weight. Omair and I feel that she never really recovered from that completely.

Over the next few months Iman seemed healthy and active, which is why we never really hit the panic button. But her lingering weight was always in the back of our minds. At her 1 year appointment, her doctor looked at her charts and showed concern for her growth. We went through a grueling appointment discussing her eating habits and her day’s routine. Finally, he wrote out some tests which we did. Alhamdulillah that was all normal, and the doctor put her on a high calorie diet to help her catch up. He also told us that in the next couple of months we’ll see a growth spurt. But unfortunately at 15 months (3 months later) Iman still didn’t show any sign of a growth spurt. So our concerns continued to mount and finally, after endless discussions at home, we took her to Dr. Mansoor (a well known Pediatrician in Dubai for over 20 years).

Obviously only wanting our daughter’s health, we went to this high priced man, just to hear that she was fine. I was quite impressed with him and his work. He spent a good amount of time listening to her history, examining her physically, and observing her intellect and motor skills. Finally he told us that although things look good, we still should run some blood tests to make sure that there isn’t an internal problem that might require attention. He did the tests in his office, and after a few minutes he told us that things were fine.

Don’t get me wrong. There was no obsessing involved. When it comes to your own child, there is no amount of money that you can dish out to ensure that they are healthy and happy. I wasn’t being paranoid. You have to have your own to understand that even the slightest problem or health issue is magnified a million times when your baby could even remotely possibly be ill.

So after 9 months of agonizing about Iman’s slow weight gain, 2 doctor’s appointments, several tests and a good amount of money later, we came home with the verdict that “she’s just petite”.