sweet & savory

Where are we with feeding? Or, where are we at with feeding therapy? 'Cause we definitely are not feeding. Not enough consumption. This photo was taken when Aero's feeding therapist was working with him in gently reminding him to swallow. His ritual is to take in food, feel it around his mouth for a bit, spit it out.

Food is a game, exploration, novel sensation for Aero. As he receives his nutrition via his g.i. tube, he really has no incentive (no real hunger pains) to eat orally except for the fun of a new experience and flavors.

Thankfully, he is no longer oral averse. He will happily try things out as witnessed by his gnawing at this very ripe, super soft avocado. 

And, this heavily buttered bagel. I will only let him lick at these types of foods. He is not practiced enough in the art of chew and swallow for foods beyond the consistency of puree. He needs to gain more coordination and confidence. Yet, he is craving more substance, texture, tingle beyond puree. 

3x daily I sit him in his highchair for food fun. Some days are more encouraging than others. Today, not so much, two licks tops at each feeding. One challenge that is a constant puzzle is what to feed? Through much trial & error I have discovered that Aero is not a fan of 'sweet'. Maybe 'cause he has experienced way too many vomits of 'sweet' (breast milk is incredibly sweet). And given his reaction to Nate's squash soup and my potato soup, it seems his preference is for savory. Ever find savory baby food without grains? If it is savory it always has a grain mixed in and I don't want to feed Aero grain until his digestive system has matured (babies do not yet have the enzyme to break down grains until after year 1 or so). I am chopping veggies, steaming veggies, whirring them in the food processor and following up with a high volume whip in the blender. Lots of effort for two bites. I am hoping to stumble on that magical piece of produce that ignites his taste buds and the spooning is fast and furious.

Drinking...he watches me sip water all the time. I will tip my glass to his lips and he gives it a go. The Aero technique is to stick tongue into glass and lap. Not effective for high volume consumption. This is where we need to do a lot of work with coordination and strength of swallow. The over the moon goal is to see him drink down 2-3 ounces in 2-10 minutes. Right now, we are chugging about 1 tsp in 24 hours.

Here is the conundrum, Aero will not really consume any more than what he currently takes in which on a good day is 15 ml of puree. He currently receives 700-750 ml of breast milk via his tube daily. How will he make the jump from 15 ml to 700ml? Controlled starvation. More on that later, stay tuned.