Five months old!

I like to sit up like a big girl!

It is hard to believe how much time has passed! Anya has been gaining strength and is able to sit with help. Sometimes she leans toward her left side, the weakest side, but often she does just fine. Her medicines are being weaned down. As a general rule her breathing is doing well, not needing her oxygen turned up as often. However we have had a difficult week due to shots she needed, for the past couple of days she has not been comfortable.


It is surprising how much has changed since Arwen was a baby. When Arwen needed her immunizations we would give Tylenol immediately afterward, but now there are studies showing that giving Tylenol then can decrease the effectiveness of the immunizations. I don’t think the people who did these studies have small children, much less a child who desats if she gets pissed enough.

 

Another topic at her appointment was feeding, which is not progressing well. Therapists at Children’s made her a chair support thing to help with feeding; I put her in it and hold her to attempt feeding. It has made her more likely to open her mouth but she does not suck on the bottle, and it seems to irritate her. After a short period of time she starts screaming and I have to stop. There has been talk of getting her to take from a cup. I don’t care as long as she eats! At this point eating isn't critical because the g-button is doing it's job quite well. Anya is 13lbs 12 oz and in the 25th% for weight.

The problem as I see it is liquids. She never has gotten used to having them in her mouth and does not know how to control them in there. Then the formula goes to the back of her throat and it makes her gag and cough, and it scares the hell out of her. Her swallow is weak and the only way to strengthen it is to swallow more, but she does not suck enough to get formula out of the bottle, so we are stuck in this holding pattern. This whole process is difficult to watch day after day. In addition Anya has this pitiful pleading look she gets when she has gunk in her throat, saying "Aren't you going to suction me?" I have to be tough momma and be all "No sweetie, you are a big girl now and need to learn to deal with your own secretions." I am so mean.

I just had cereal. It was exciting...for Mommy.

Anya’s pediatrician and I discussed giving her cereal, and he was all for it, so I tried some today. She does many things that a baby who is ready for cereal does, like watch us eat and drink.  I put a very small amount on a spoon and got it on the tip of her tongue and her lips. The good news is she didn’t hate it, and seemed kind of intrigued. I am not sure if she got enough to swallow but at least she didn’t seem to mind a different texture. I am hopeful this may give her better experience.

At this time last year I was telling everyone about my pregnancy. What a journey we have made in the last year! We have so much to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!