New Flavors

November 15, 2006 Wednesday
This morning it did seem like a vacation since I did not have to manage a 4 oz. tube feeding, 3 oz. of MiraLax, and his Prevacid, which has to be given 30 min. before the tube feeding. A tiny tummy can only hold so much before disaster hits. It was stressful to do this all before getting to the feeding clinic on time. I won't miss that feeding!
This morning the therapists added the Beckman Oral Exercises to Ben's regimen. It was funny to watch his expressions on his face. I could tell he was feeling like they were in his space bubble. The exercises are stretches and massages done on the face, mouth, and gums. I will have to have these done on me so that I can learn to do that to Ben. I am not looking forward to having that, as my space bubble is not to be intruded upon.
As for food, Ben was amazing! He ate about 4 oz. consistently. He was given whole milk with Eo-28 mixed in 50%. (Eo-28 is a specialized elemental formula, much like his Neocate Jr., but supposed to actually be palatable. It comes in a juice box.) He also was fed vanilla soy yogurt, yogurt mixed 50% with pureed peaches, then plain pureed peaches. He must have thought the peaches were too tart because the expressions on his face were priceless. Adding the flavors gradually is called food blending. Because he is eating so much, they decided to cut another feeding. Hooray! They wanted to cut it during clinic time, which means that I would have to fit 2 feedings in the evening. I will have to discuss this with them, because that makes my evenings very difficult.