The World's Most Wonderful Graph

Okay, I know this picture is pretty bad.  I'm not going to tell you how long it took me to get a decent picture of this graph with my phone.  I'm not going to tell you how many times I carried it from room to room looking for the best light.  I'm not going to point out that I accidentally took a picture of my own shadow.  I won't tell you how long it took me to edit it online or how stupid it is to have to edit a picture of black dots on white paper in the first place.  All I will tell you is that you HAVE to see this!!!

The first two dots indicate Jonah's height percentile (according to the CDC) before treatment.  It was below the first percentile.  Awesome, right?  You can also see that the line flattens out a little bit between the second and third dot, indicating that his rate of growth was actually slowing down.  If his rate of growth had continued to slow, he would have just kept falling farther and farther away from the curve until he wound up having to wear Gymboree clothes to post-college job interviews.  The third dot was the last time he was measured before starting growth hormone treatment, then WHA-BAM!!!

  The fourth dot jumps enthusiastically toward the bottom line of the graph!  Unfortunately, the heartless slobs at the CDC don't think that a kid deserves a line until they are in the third percentile, so it still appears that Jonah's height is below the curve, but it's not!  I promise!! Jonah is firmly in the second percentile.  That means that in a room full of 100 kids his age, there could be two kids who don't want to pat him on the head like the kids at school.  Those kids drive me crazy.   According to this, my favorite graph in the world, Jonah was roughly 37 inches when we started the shots in October and was 40 inches when he was last measured by the endocrinologist in February.  This graph has earned a place of honor in the long-neglected baby book.

My favorite part of the whole process is how FAST it's happening!  Jonah has gone up three shoe sizes this month!  At our last appointment, I addressed my concern that Jonah was just growing too fast and that maybe we need to reduce his dose.  The doctor asked Jonah if his knees or hips ever hurt, and he said no.  The doctor asked him if he ever had headaches, and Jonah said no.  Then the doctor smiled at me and explained that everything looked perfect and that because the dose is determined by Jonah's weight, it would actually be INCREASING since Jonah has gained weight as he has grown taller!

  Because the change has been so quick and significant, it has been easy for Jonah to see the results.  It is exciting for him and it makes dealing with the injections every night a little easier.  For the first time, Jonah will not be wearing last year's summer clothes this year.  He can reach the remote on top of the entertainment center.  He is much taller than his little brother.  He is brushing his teeth without needing a step stool at the sink.

You should see the difference it is making in his confidence.  Rarely does he ask if he's "big enough" to do something the way he used to.  He plays on the "big" playground equipment and flies down slides that used to terrify him.  Obviously, that's a normal part of growing up, but I like to think that feeling like he is finally "big enough" to do things is encouraging him to actually DO them. 

What we are NOT seeing is the uncertainty and self-esteem issues that concerned me back in October.  I was worried that Jonah would think he was "sick" since he needed medicine, or that he wasn't good enough the way he was.  I was worried that we were over-emphasizing his appearance rather than celebrating the fact that he was a perfectly healthy kid.  But none of that seems to have entered that adorable little head.  All he knows  is that he is growing up like everybody else.  Finally!