Anonymous wrote:

She’s in the 3 percentile - she could end up being 4’5” tall.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just met with endocrinologist last week for 13 year old son. Parents tall and he was about 50% of height but has fallen to 19% and only grown 1.5 inches in 19 months. Typical at 13 1/2 is 2-3 inches a year. They ran test and only one hormone bit low. Bone age one year behind but Endot wants to read test hersel- results were from local doc and she is going to get X-ray.
Once bones fuse- no chance to help so we are fast tracking our decision based on that. If younger, think I would get couple opinions and have growth monitored over two 6 month periods- then endoc with X-ray and blood can give you predict asult height. If that is not reasonable based on genetics- say I’m 5”7 and husband 6’1 and kid shows max height 5”9, then yes, we would proceed.
We would not intervene unless we felt medically he was not meeting his expected height. For our son, biggest flag is lack of growth over 18 months. However, they base a lot of this on size of tedticles to determine where in puberty and our son at 1 on scale 1-5 so we feel like he is just late bloomer probably.
Again, doc is reviewing bone age again and if it is as immature as testes, then time will work. If bone age closer to actual age and blood work borderline, we will do an all day in lab blood testing that insurance requires - that will ultimately decide.
Good doc should make decision path very easy. We didn’t feel like there were that many variables at end of day to decide.

Hmm. You are t comfortable having him be the height of the average American male? Is this for sports or cosmetic reasons?

I ask because I’m a 5’4 3/4”woman with a 6’2” brother, 5’9” and 5’8” sisters. My dad 6’1” , mom 5’7”.

So, yes, I am a lot shorter than the rest of my family, but still average for a US woman.

I guess I’d really have to be very certain about risks for and against over a mere inch or two over normal height.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I really appreciate all the advice and experiences. DD’s endo says she in the 3rd percentile in height and less than 1st percentile in weight. Her bone age is 2.1 years delayed. A complicating factor is that constitutional growth delay runs in DH’s family which can explain the low hormone levels too. Unfortunately by the time one is confident in that diagnosis (e.g DD gets her period at age 16), it’s too late to intervene. Studies I’ve read show that medicating an otherwise healthy child is not advised and can have long term consequences (higher risk of cancer and stroke) not found in kids who are truly HGH deficient. We are not sure yet where DD fits. Some doctors and parents are uncomfortable with the wait-and-see approach in cases like ours. Others are more conservative. I don’t think either is wrong. It’s a tough decision and feels like we are playing blackjack with our daughter’s future. That’s why I’m gathering lots of opinions, processing, and anxious to learn more from experts who can guide us.

BTW, DD loves being small and mighty. She’s confident and happy in her skin.

I don't think you can go by this. This would likely change in a few years when she realizes that she needs a cushion and pedal extenders to drive (to say nothing of having to pull the seat right on top of the airbag), is still shopping in the children's department at 20, is having to climb shelves or ask others for help just to do grocery shopping, has her face at everyone else's armpit/butt level on public transit, and is dating men 2 feet taller who put their foot in their mouths and awkwardly ask her if she has a genetic disorder that could impact their kids. Being petite is one thing, being able to be classified as a dwarf is quite another. The world is not friendly for adults who are 4'3". Unfortunate, but true.

Anonymous wrote:We just met with endocrinologist last week for 13 year old son. Parents tall and he was about 50% of height but has fallen to 19% and only grown 1.5 inches in 19 months. Typical at 13 1/2 is 2-3 inches a year. They ran test and only one hormone bit low. Bone age one year behind but Endot wants to read test hersel- results were from local doc and she is going to get X-ray.
Once bones fuse- no chance to help so we are fast tracking our decision based on that. If younger, think I would get couple opinions and have growth monitored over two 6 month periods- then endoc with X-ray and blood can give you predict asult height. If that is not reasonable based on genetics- say I’m 5”7 and husband 6’1 and kid shows max height 5”9, then yes, we would proceed.
We would not intervene unless we felt medically he was not meeting his expected height. For our son, biggest flag is lack of growth over 18 months. However, they base a lot of this on size of tedticles to determine where in puberty and our son at 1 on scale 1-5 so we feel like he is just late bloomer probably.
Again, doc is reviewing bone age again and if it is as immature as testes, then time will work. If bone age closer to actual age and blood work borderline, we will do an all day in lab blood testing that insurance requires - that will ultimately decide.
Good doc should make decision path very easy. We didn’t feel like there were that many variables at end of day to decide.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I really appreciate all the advice and experiences. DD’s endo says she in the 3rd percentile in height and less than 1st percentile in weight. Her bone age is 2.1 years delayed. A complicating factor is that constitutional growth delay runs in DH’s family which can explain the low hormone levels too. Unfortunately by the time one is confident in that diagnosis (e.g DD gets her period at age 16), it’s too late to intervene. Studies I’ve read show that medicating an otherwise healthy child is not advised and can have long term consequences (higher risk of cancer and stroke) not found in kids who are truly HGH deficient. We are not sure yet where DD fits. Some doctors and parents are uncomfortable with the wait-and-see approach in cases like ours. Others are more conservative. I don’t think either is wrong. It’s a tough decision and feels like we are playing blackjack with our daughter’s future. That’s why I’m gathering lots of opinions, processing, and anxious to learn more from experts who can guide us.

BTW, DD loves being small and mighty. She’s confident and happy in her skin.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. DD wasn’t premature. She is coordinated and surprisingly strong for her small frame. She has very little body fat so doesn’t really fit the profile in that regard. But she was very late to get teeth and hasn’t lost too many. A couple teeth have been missing for 6-9 months with no sign of the permanent teeth yet. So that fits. She was tested for different hormone levels and so far, all have been okay. Her doctor wrote and said some results won’t be back for a week or so and she will follow up then.