Monday, July 8, 2013

Feeding Therapy Update

Olivia's feeding therapy is going well. She is working on taking smaller bites and swallowing things completely before taking another bite. This week we have various food to try and Olivia colors them in after trying and then rates them with a happy or sad face. Her therapist is happy with her willingness to try new food, but perplexed by the small amount that makes her full. And, even when she seems to eat a lot, her weight still doesn't reflect that. We are back down to 31.5 lbs. This is where we were a year ago. So, we go to see her pediatrician on Wednesday to see what the next steps are. Most likely it will be to see a pediatric gastroenterologist at Children's Mercy in Kansas City. I just want to get it all done before kindergarten and we are quickly running out of time! Even in the best of circumstances, you can never seem to completely outrun the effects of extreme prematurity.

I have started making all of Abigail's food in hopes to also get Olivia to eat it. Olivia is more apt to try it if she helps me make it and it doesn't come from the baby food aisle. LOL! We made sweet potatoes last night and I put Olivia's in a fancy cup with cinnamon sprinkled on top. And she didn't like it. But, she said," Even though I don't like it, mama, I still love you!" :-). Sweet girl. Abigail on the other hand, will eat anything! And if she sees you eating, you'd better have something for her to eat too. My two girls could not be more opposite when it comes to food! Please continue praying for Olivia's health and growth. We have got to get some pounds on her!


Jodi- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Maybe her stomach just isn't accustomed to large quantities of food. Perhaps you need to adopt a strategy of eating many small meals. Have you tried including red lentils in her soup? I know she's a petite little kid but she's definitely not the only small child in the world. She doesn't look malnourished either and you don't want to give her a complex about food either. And isn't it better to have a child who is slightly underweight than overweight. A child who is even slightly overweight struggles so much to keep up in the playground. Anyway....best of luck. Hope that as she matures and becomes more aware of her environment and body that your struggles will end. Nothing worse than worrying about a child.