We have praises to report - whoo hoo!
Praise #1 - The twins got the stomach flu last weekend. Yeah, that's right - that has turned out to be a praise. Since recovering, they have been eating SO MUCH BETTER. It's like them getting sick hit some sort of reset button. They were on a diet of Pedialyte for days. Normally we make their formula about half Similac Sensitive for Spit Up and half Similac Neosure (a special formula for preemies). As they started recovering we started adding just the spit up formula to their bottles because we thought that would stay down a little better. And they started
wanting to eat - no fussing, no arching, no refusing to eat. So we kept making their bottles with just the spit up formula and for the past several days they have eaten more than ever before!!! I called our pediatrician's office to see if it was okay to forego the Neosure and just give them the spit up formula since they're actually wanting to eat and eating so much more and she gave us the go ahead. I'm wondering if they just don't like the flavor of the Neosure. Maybe when they hit that 4 month adjusted age, sucking-is-no-longer-a-reflex-I-get-to-choose-if-I-eat-now stage they decided they didn't like that formula? (I also think it's a huge help that they're on the proper dose of reflux meds now as well). At any rate, I don't care why, we're just so glad they're eating better. God is so good! On Ash Wednesday we went to church because Jose was leading worship with the youth. One of the things we did during the service was write down something tangible we were praying for during lent. I wrote down that I was praying that Anthony and Aryanna would be completely healed of their feeding issues and I truly believe God used them getting sick to bring healing. Praise Jesus!
Praise #2 - Anthony's oral aversion is so much better that he started taking a pacifier again!
Praise #3 - Anthony has taken his last two bottles sitting up like a big boy (rather than side-lying). This is great news since he's getting so big and it will help him even more with other feeding skills.
Praise #3 - Aryanna is sitting up by herself like a champ! She loves to sit up, look around and see what's going on. She's just such a happy girl!
Praise #4 - Aryanna hasn't had one of her awful reflux pukes in days! (Again, maybe the change in formula / increased dose of reflux meds / divine intervention?)
Praise #5 - Anthony's swallow study went well today. (Had I even mentioned that he was having one? At their 9 month appointment our pediatrician was appalled that the GIs hadn't done more to help us so she ordered a swallow study for Anthony to make sure he isn't aspirating when he eats. We're going back to see her next week to follow up and come up with a plan - though we may not need one with how well they've been eating!) Anyway, he had a swallow study today and he doesn't aspirate when taking his bottle. He did aspirate a little with his sippy cup, but it was water which is thinner than formula and he coughed so he at least deals with it when it happens. The fear was that he was having silent aspiration and not showing any signs that he had aspirated - but that's not the case - thank goodness. She did stress how important PT will continue to be. He needs to be able to bear weight on his arms when on his tummy to help all the muscles in his chest, arms, neck, etc develop so that he can move to more textured foods. Right now he's just not there yet and it won't be safe for him to eat anything but pureed foods until he can. Please pray that he would continue to gain strength in this area.
