Over the last 2 weeks Owen has been seriously thinking about eating puffs. For those of you who do not know, puffs are puffed cereal type of crunchy food that dissolve easily in the mouth. We have been giving these to Owen for months, but just recently he was holding one in his hand, and putting his hand in his mouth. He was exercising his control over the situation, and beginning to trust the food. Then he could put it in his mouth and spit it out. A few days ago, he actually crunched it, chewed it, and swallowed it. Then he wanted more. And more. Sometimes he will suck on it, and hold it in his mouth, but other times, he is wanting more because he has already eaten the puff.
THIS IS HUGE NEWS in Owen's progress. This doesn't necessarily mean that he will just jump on into eating everything, he has to develop a relationship with foods, become familiar, and trust them. With so much gagging and vomitting happening this year, this is quite a process. The mess is certainly better, but not gone. He has tried graham crackers multiple times, and will chew them but when he goes to swallow them they are too crunchy and cause a gag issue. So, he doesn't get those during a feed for now...
We work with Owen on feeding therapy constantly. He is exposed to food in a high chair 5-6times a day, but less if we are out and about. We are so thankful for our amazing OT Amy who works with Owen and us once a week in our home. The gtube has also come in handy so that Owen's throat and mouth and nares can finally heal! It has been almost a month with it. I can't believe it. We haven't used the feeding pump in almost a month as well. We have been doing bolus syringe feeds which take about 10minutes to deliver Owen 7 ounces. It has been such a great transition. His weight wasn't very impressive this month, sad to say, since he has been getting 100% real food in his tube, but he did gain 2 pounds the month before. Mama is just going to add a little extra olive oil to the mix to give him some extra calories.
Ok off to bed, Chris did get the time off so we can go to the Heirloom Veggie Expo tomorrow!
On my to-blog list~
Vitamix wonders with blenderized diets, PS if interested in the meantime, email me!
garden tally (still too early though...)
More ng-tube-free photos of Owen
1 comment:
Yay puffs! So awesome to hear about Owen's progress! Can't wait to see the no-ng tube pics! Your garden is amazing, I'm jealous. Hope you guys are all doing well and getting a little more sleep!! -Mikia
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