It does a body good

Veggies - I tried to start following some of the goals I posted on Sunday. On Monday I made chicken enchiladas, green beans, and carrots. The vegetables went over like a lead balloon with Nadia. She didn't even eat much of her enchilada (I had given her one half of an enchilada) even though she has enjoyed them in the past. She chose to sit at the dinner table all the way until bed time and had to finish the meal for breakfast Tuesday morning. Last night I served cheese ravioli and corn. Again although she likes ravioli, she didn't eat much of it because there was corn on her plate. We experienced deja vu as she sat at the table until it was time for bed and then sat there another 3 hours this morning before she finally finished the ravioli and corn. Hopefully she will start eating her veggies a bit faster in the near future. I'm considering using the feeding clinic's "plate a/ plate b" strategy with her. It's not one that has been used with Ian, but I observed it being used with many other children.

Ironically, Ian is doing a better job of eating his veggies. At lunch he had a few bites of bologna, carrots, and green beans in addition to feeding himself an entire container of coconut milk yogurt. At dinner he ate a red grape (first time ever although I've tried to get him to eat them many times before), a couple of carrots, and a few bites of bologna in addition to a decent size helping of applesauce. I was very, very pleased with his feeding skills today. Every meal took at most 30 minutes for him to eat. Considering meals were taking 1-2 hours each when Oliver was first discharged from the hospital, this is a HUGE step forward. Tomorrow I'm hoping Karen (OT) will give some tips on how to help him improve his skills of feeding himself with a spoon. It's a very messy endeavor at the moment, which bothers him more than it bothers me.

Milk - Dr. Williams was amazed yesterday at how quickly Ian can drink the EleCare. He certainly has mastered the skill of drinking from an open cup! He still likes it to be served warm (actually the word "hot" would be more accurate). I realized over the last few days how much milk Nadia usually drinks because we aren't going through the gallon nearly as quickly as usual. She still hasn't gotten over her cold. She has thrown up once a day the last few days from the phlegm. Thus I've only given her water or apple juice to drink, and I've been giving her oatmeal for breakfast (on the days she hasn't been eating her dinner for breakfast). This has greatly reduced our milk consumption! As for Oliver, I don't know what will happen with him. I wish he didn't have lung disease for many reasons - one of which is that it's making it harder for him to gain weight and therefore is threatening the future of nursing him. The pump is being picked up tomorrow. I have to decide whether to buy one or to wait until I can borrow one from WIC. All I have right now is a manual pump that the NICU gave me. I'll give that a whirl tomorrow before I decide whether I'm going to buy one or not. I have to pump three times a day to get enough to fill his bottles for the day. I wish I hadn't sold my pump at a yard sale last year. Lately I've only been pumping twice a day so I've been dipping into the frozen supply a bit.

Sleep - Nadia hasn't been napping this month. On Monday she surprised me and took a very long nap in her bedroom. This morning Ian kept talking about how he is scared of the dark - something he's never said before. It sounded like he had a nightmare last night as he kept talking about a "green woman." This turned into a disaster at naptime. I was on the phone with someone from SS regarding Oliver's Medical Assistance application, and he became hysterical. I left the door open (I usually close it) so it wouldn't be dark in his room, and he still screamed so much that he threw up in his bed. I had him nap downstairs on a couch instead (not in the same room where Oliver and I were). Some days (like on Monday) he still takes a short nap, but today he slept for more than an hour on the couch. I took down the room darkening shades off his window and put in a night light. Thankfully he didn't give Paul much trouble when he put him down tonight. Whew. Nadia never had a fear of the dark so this was a new situation.

I have been trying to help Oliver learn to put himself to sleep. During the night I don't care if I put him in his crib asleep, but during the day I put him down while he's awake so he can learn to put himself to sleep. He does much better sleeping during the day than he does at night. Every once in a while he has a good night, but many nights he is up much of the night. The good news is that I am handling the sleep deprivation FAR better this time than I did the last two times although I eagerly await the day when I can sleep through the night again. I don't change his diaper as often at night (during the night his diapers are almost always only wet whereas during the day almost every diaper is both wet and poopy), and the only light is a night light in his room.

Fresh air - This whole summer I spent only a few minutes outside. There were weeks in which I spent not even one minute outside. Today was the first time I went to the playground in four months. The weather was gorgeous. It was heavenly to be outside in the fresh air. I have had cabin fever this summer like I've never had it before. I carried Oliver in the Weego and pushed Nadia and Ian in the double stroller. We sang songs together and had such a great time. Bliss.

I have more I'd like to write, but as I said above, sleep does a body good and so I must sign off and go catch a few zzz's before the next feeding.