Well, they can't all be great days! Not that anything terrible has happened, but the past few days have been "down days" for me with regard to feeding Gracie. Everyone was so pumped up about the good news from the GI doc that we never really, really got an answer to how to actually wean Gracie off of the tube. I mean, we talked about options for fortifying, getting rid of the night drip and even taking her off of the Prevacid once the tube comes out (see! we talked about it!), but the home care plan that was written up basically just had us feed her more. Well guess what? She got full and was not very interested in eating! Boo. I know for a fact that Gracie is physically capable of drinking 5 ounces. I know that she can eat 1-2 TBSP of baby food. But who wants to eat if the rest is pumped into you because the doctor (who called us back the next day) decided that Gracie needs 700 calories per day? Ugh. Again with the math equations and charts. So I called the nurse with a lump in my throat and explained what was going on. She basically supported my idea to back down the feeds to a more comfortable level. Gracie had been hiccuping as well which is an indicator for reflux. That would make me push a bottle away too! So we took a step back, stopped playing with any fortification, and in a fortuitous moment Gracie pulled her tube out today(Friday Nov 4th). So I left it out. Now don't get excited because this is an experiment that was done before and she still needed help from the tube, so it may go back in at some point. So far today she did pretty well, by which I mean she ate and drank. She got down abuot 20 oz which isn't too shaAs long as she is getting enough to stay hydrated and energized, we will continue the experiment over the weekend. Maybe she will be hungrier tomorrow...? Unfortunately, she has to get some vaccinations on Monday which could be a setback. I am trying very hard to look at the big picture here because overall we are still winning this battle, but boy, some days are tough! I left another message for the nurse today asking to speak with the doctor directly. I just want to pin her down and ask her exactly how to do this. And "feed her more" and "weigh her" are not an acceptable answers. I didn't hear back. I guess we're on our own for the weekend!
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AuthorLauren, a Yoga Teacher, Choreographer, Director.....and new Mom!! I hope to add "tube slayer" to my list of credits. Archives
February 2014
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