Monday, January 22, 2007

I can't believe it has been so long since I have last posted. Time flies by when I am too busy. Now that I am home and trying to maintain my house, take care of all of my children, and dealing with the many things I have to do for Ben, my days disappear at light speed. Being away from home, such as it was, was like being on a strange vacation.

As for Mr. Ben....Ben has gone through 2 colds since being home. Each time he gets one, he begins to vomit a lot during meals. Yesterday he threw up 3 times during his meal, and twice after. I was trying to get my kids out the door to go to church, and I looked at him in his high chair, and he was gagging like crazy, and for no apparent reason. He finally threw up whatever small amount might have been left in his tummy. That was a very bad way to start the day. I went to church feeling crabby and frustrated.

Because Ben had been throwing up so much, we decided to try a few different things. We took the dairy based yogurt out of his menus and switched to soy based. I don't think that has made a difference. We also have been thinning his food out quite a bit, and I feel like that has made a big difference for him. Today I tried pushing the solids at the beginning of his meal, and gave more formula at the end. That seemed to work very well. As he gets full, it takes precious little to push him over the edge and to cause him to vomit, but drinking doesn't do that. I figure I got about 9 oz. down him at that meal. I was quite proud.

One big problem was that the dietician at the clinic had given us contradicting instructions for boosting his food. Boosting means adding calories. We have a couple handouts that she had made for Ben in which she said to boost with 1 Tbsp. per 4 oz. That was creating a huge oil slick in his food. Another handout said to use 1 tsp. per 4 oz., and also had a statement about how over boosting can cause reflux. I was not happy when I saw that discrepancy. I had been using a tablespoon to boost with, and as soon as I changed to the smaller amount, he improved. I think the food slipped up just as easily as it slipped down when it had too much oil in it. That was such a big setback for him to have to go through that, not to mention what it did for us. I was not happy when I figured this out. I expected more of the professionals that were responsible for Ben's care.

Today was a good day for Ben. He kept his meals down. I pureed scrambled eggs and ham for him, and added butter and maple sugar to it. He also had soy yogurt boosted with coconut milk. For lunch and dinner he had chicken mixed with pears, and sweet potatoes. I used olive oil and butter to boost those. I try to vary the sources of fat that I boost with. He is fed 4 times a day, and my goal at each meal is 8 oz. I do hope we can break that barrier soon, as 8 oz. seems to be his max. More food equals less feedings. Each feeding is about 30 min. and must be done in our laundry room, or he is too distracted to eat, and pulls out some really bad behaviors. I long for the time when he realizes, on his own, that he must eat, and can feed himself. I think that is a very long way off in the far distant future.