Friday 25 May 2012

Sorting out a new diet

It's raining outside today and it is one of the those kind of days to snuggle up on the lounge and watch a movie. It is peaceful in our home at the moment. Faith is at last asleep after more vomiting that usual. She awoke very early as I think she was feeling unwell in her tummy. She has had increased vomiting now for 6 days and I see the weariness in her eyes, it is tiring her. 5 vomits today at least, she is trying to play and be her happy self but I can see she feels sore and is over all the vomiting. When she went to sleep I gave her a big tube feed so we can get back some of the calories that we lost. I love standing at the end of her bed watching her breathe and move her hand to make sure she is touching her teddy with the pink bow and then when she stretchers out her legs and all is still while she sleeps ever so peacefully.

On Wednesday we drove to Brisbane for our long awaited appointment with the gastroenterologist. Our appointment wasn't too early this time so the trip in the car was a lot more pleasant with Faith saying car car car every now and then and she sat back and watched the world go by. She wasn't into the trucks going past and let out a little squeal of protest. On arrival at the hospital she had a huge vomit in the waiting room that was bustling with people. We thankfully only had to wait 15mintues and got in to see the doctor. She thought it was better to take a cautious approach with the vomiting and rule out food allergies before doing any invasive procedures which I was grateful for. She wants to start Faith on Neocate LCP but after some research when we got home and talking to the metabolic dietitian we came to the conclusion that Neocate LCP wasn't going to give Faith enough calories as she needs a lot for catch up growth. So I rang our doctor and got a script for Neocate Advance. I am quite nervous about putting her a different formula as this one has protein added and up until now we have been protein restricted just in case that was what was causing Faith's vomiting. I think that it is just formula in general that is causing her vomiting but we have to keep trying.

I have heard through various forums that a blended diet can reduce or even in some cases get rid of vomiting. This makes so much sense to me as when we were stuck last year without a formula we blended food and put it down her tube and during that time we had none or very little vomiting and gagging. When I talk to some professionals about this they are very apprehensive and not really into it but I really do believe that it could help Faith. It has to be worth a try. I was told about a book called Super Nutrition for Babies: The Right Way to Feed Your Baby for Optimal Health. I looked at it on Amazon and it looks like a fantastic book on learning about nutrition so I ordered it. I also read that having the right blender is also important so I have been doing some research into that too. After all the vomiting we have had the last week, I couldn't bare her losing weight and seeing the little ribs show, then I know that she needs more food but we are not at that point thankfully. It is so tricky trying to figure out the right balance. 

The plan it to try Neocate Advance and slowly introduce a blended diet as well. We need to be continually looking at how we stop Faith's vomiting and after trying so many formulas in the past I really find it hard to believe that this one is going to work but it is worth a try since Faith's vomiting has increased. She is just getting enough formula as we increased the overnight feeds so at least we can do that to help. Even with the vomiting we seem to be heading in the right direction with her eating. Each morning I give Faith her bowl and I have my bowl and as I eat my cereal I eat some of hers and show Faith how and usually I get a smile and yesterday and today she nodded at me and I put some rice cereal on my finger and into her mouth. Very exciting. Slow but steady. I am not sure whether to be introducing the spoon again as she dislikes it so much, so for now it is my finger and other interesting food products that she will not reject.

Every day in our house has is our own adventure, whether it be cleaning up vomit, making numerous calls to organise deliveries, making shapes in play dough, watching the breeze in the trees or just thinking of new ways to make Faith's day interesting. Some days she sleeps more particularly after a long trip to Brisbane so we just take each moment as it comes and try to adjust to the continual change but we are moving forward and that is the important thing.


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