Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Pediatrician Appointment

Yesterday was Ethan's Pediatrician appointment. He weighed 17lbs 5oz! He has really put on the weight since his last surgery. At his 2 month visit he was only in the 10% range for weight and now he is in the 90%. He is also growing in length which is what we want to see. This helps us know that this is true weight gain and not water weight which is a bad sign. Our MD also said that developmentally speaking he is right on track. There was nothing that she tested that he was behind in. She took him off of his zantac and wants us to keep trying to feed him with a spoon. She said that in a month if he still wasn't eating well by spoon then we may want to get another swallow study.

I tried to feed him some really thinned down cereal tonight, and just like before, as soon as it hit his mouth he threw up. He did it three times in a row! What a stinker. You can tell that he doesn't like it. He grunts and clenches his jaw shut when you even bring the spoon up to his mouth. The food doesn't even hit the back of his throat. It is the craziest thing. I really don't think that it is a swallowing issue because he breastfeeds great and takes his medicine just fine as well. In fact, we have been giving him some teething biscuits and he does just fine gumming those. I have no clue as to what his issue is with the cereal.

Our MD wants us to be feeding him 1/2 cup of cereal a day whether it is all at once or in divided doses throughout the day. I guess I will just keep trying and hopefully the consistency will get him used to the idea that this is the direction we are moving in.

Other than being stubborn with eating, Ethan is doing remarkably well. I am amazed at how happy and "normal" he is. He is completely off of the oxygen. I do spot checks on him every few days or so. Today when he was sleeping his oxygen saturation's were 82-88% on room air. That is so much better than before his last surgery. When people ask how he is doing I say that he is pink and plump......just they way we like him.

---Allison

4 comments:

Melanie said...

I don't know if this will help, but when my daughter first started on cereal, we started it really thin too, and she hated it. It wasn't until I finally just made it a little thicker that she started to get used to it and it worked better for her. Good luck!

Heart Mommy said...

weare4
Our developmental specialist said to put it our on a plate and let Alex put his hand in it and eat it off his fingers.. She said that way you'll know if it is the flavor of the cereal that is grossing him out or the spoon... Try it and let me know? Brynn

The Gatherum Family said...

YEAH-I am so glad he is doing so well. I don't have any good advice about the cereal. Both my kids hated it too so one time Neal and I tried it and man oh man, I can see why-it's disgusting! See ya tomorrow night! Adrian

Zaltana said...

That's great that you have an adorable pink, plump baby! I love the picture of him where he is soooo happy that his oxygen mask is off. What a cutie!
The only advice I can think of on the whole cereal thing is that when our kids started on it and didn't like it either, we mixed the cereal with breast milk instead of water. Plus we started with rice cereal - we heard from someone that most babies like it better than the others. Good luck.
~Wendy~
P.S. I would like to add your site to my links on my blog spot - if it is OK with you. :)