Hunger Induction - Day 5

So here we are in Brisbane at our apartment for 5 days to attempt to wean Faith off her NG tube. What a crazy day, being day 5 of the hunger induction program Faith is showing signs of hunger and we are trying to help her understand what hunger is what she should do if she is hungry. She is refusing all food and drink now. We headed to Brisbane this morning so we could take Faith to the Spina Bifida Association's hydrotherapy class, at home when we go swimming, it is just Faith, the teacher and I so we were excited to be part of class with other babies and toddlers. What a full on class it was, it was full of different activities to build strength in various areas and had songs and lots of movement. It challenged Faith on every level and it was good for her to be challenged outside her comfort zone but it was exhausting for both of us.  It was fun to be part of such a action packed class I wish we could come more regularly as it was good for her. Lots of practical and helpful ideas to take back to our class.There was even little ducks that had lights in them that Faith pushed back and forwards. We didn't make it it through the entire hour, I could see Faith was tiring but I was also feeling quite overwhelmed too. 

Faith didn't sleep very well overnight and rose very early, she was hungry I think and she was irritated and needed distraction and constant play time. When she is hungry in the morning she sweats all over but it settled after some water and later her home made blend. But I woke distressed too, I was second guessing what we were doing, my mind was consumed by doubt and fear, I know we are doing the right thing and Faith's NG tube needs to be gone but all the preparation and coming days suddenly seemed nearly impossible, there were a few tears but I had to keep going. The speech pathologist kindly asked one of the other mums if she would have morning tea with us and her two delightful daughters sat at the table near the pool and ate their lunch and though Faith was nearly going to sleep she tried to interact and when the little girl offered food I could see Faith wanted to touch as she reached out but was just too tired. It was good though.

We headed back to the speech pathologist's room a short drive away where there was a little place of heaven was set up with dolly's, teddies and a monkey were having tea and a play mat with the hungry caterpillar crawling around and toys and books were ready for Faith to have some fun. On the wall were quotes and words of encouragement like, 

No pressure

keep strong

relax

keep the Faith

keep swimming

life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain

making a big life change is pretty scary. But, know what's even scarier? Regret. 

Your wings already exist. All you have to is Fly

With inspiring and encouraging words around it will help us keep going and remind us to relax and have fun as that is what it is all about.

We laid Faith down and with some relaxing music playing, she relaxed, chatted and eventually went off to sleep on the floor. It gave us a chance to run through our plan for the morning and of course the celebration of Faith's NG tube removal, tactics, strategies and of course the biggie that Faith have fun learning about food.

Checked into our 1 bedroom apartment, unpacked and make Faith's space and start to unwind my brain. Thanks to an inspiring group discussion with hubby and speech pathologist I am feeling motivated, encouraged and inspired that we can do this. There are so many people praying and God CAN do what seems impossible.The next time I blog Faith will have no NG tube! Bring it on!!