Today was our first day of feeding therapy. The goal was to see how Noah eats for me, to have something to compare to when we're done. We had 3 therapy sessions. The rules were simple - I had to present each food to Noah but he didn't have to eat it. When I was done I was to call for the therapist (who was watching through closed circuit tv in another room).
Session #1
the foods: pureed carrots, baby applesauce, a sippy cup with 2 oz Pediasure w/duocal
what happened: Noah refused the purees and vomited his stomach contents when I managed to get a bite of carrots in his mouth (normally I wouldn't let it get to that, but the therapist needed to know what would happen). He devoured the Pediasure and screamed for more (which he didn't get).
Session #2
the foods: pureed something and something else (I had ceased to care what I was feeding at this point - it's not like he was going to eat it), veggie puffs, a straw sqeezey cup with 2 oz Pediasure with duocal
what happened: Noah refused the purees and I didn't push it. He threw the veggie puffs on the floor. He let me sqeeze the 2 oz of Pediasure into his mouth and begged for more.
Session #3
the foods: 2 more misc. purees, some popcorn without the kernals (who knew such a thing existed?), 2 oz of Pediasure in the straw cup
what happened: see session #2
When we weren't in the feeding room, I was doing my best to keep track of my newly walking toddler in a non-child proofed waiting area. Fortunately he was too busy screaming in hunger to get into too much. I'm told by the other moms that they get used to the schedule after a few days and find things to do other than just get into trouble. Starting Thursday he'll get 4 therapy sessions, so even if he just eats the Pediasure he won't starve.
Tomorrow is therapy baselines which means Jamie Sue (the therapist) will be feeding and I'll be watching on the tv screen. My biggest fear about tomorrow is that he'll eat everything for her and they'll tell me I don't need feeding therapy I need parenting classes and give me a t-shirt that says "I don't know how to feed my baby" in big letters on the front. Ok, perhaps it's not my biggest fear. But I'd feel awfully stupid if that happened. One day down, 39ish to go.
4 comments:
Yay Emily! You're the best mom (not to mention wife) ever. I'm so proud of you for the grace & endurance you have while taking Noah to half the medical establishments in Richmond. I love you. I declare tonight footrub night! Well, once we all get home, anyway;)
Keep at it! My Aidan had some oral aversions that surfaced right around the time we started purees. We did outpatient feeding therapy for about 4 months and suddenly the light came on for him. Today he will happily eat cheerios, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, etc.
Feeding therapy rules! It is just a very tiring road. Good for you for getting this done.
As our feeding therapist said, "Life is too long to have a bad relationship with food. Let's fix it!"
This is such great news!!
Noah is an absolute doll!
Best of luck with food therapy! I found your blog from Shannon's I think, and it's great. I especially liked the guilt post, I just posted a comment on it even though it's from awhile ago.
You're doing a great job.
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