Day 11
After a 2 1/2 day stand off, Julia finally started taking bites. Literally a bite here and a bite there but at least she was giving in. Yesterday was an awesome feeding day. From breakfast to dinner, I bet she ate 5oz.
We started observing Julia behind a 2-way window during her meals. Her behavior was typical but it didn't last nearly as long as it would here at home. For the most part, the therapists feed her the way we did; minus our ability to get sucked into Julia's games. The biggest difference is that the therapists remain neutral when responding to her. They're patient, use a neutral voice and unless Julia is taking her bites or playing with her reward, and they ignore her comments. That's where we went wrong - ignoring her comments. If she said "I love you, mommy" I would say "I love you, too so lets take a bite." The therapists pointed out that even though it sounds like Julia is being all nice and sweet, she has the upper hand because she's found a way to postpone taking the bite. Makes sense but it's easier said then done. Monday, we begin sitting in the room with Julia and the therapist. Should be interesting.
Miss Social Butterfly has made lots of friends and we've gotten to know many of the parents. Some of their stories are so heart breaking. A few doors down from us is a 3 year old boy who has severe brain damage because he aspirated on a grape. Prior to the incident, he was a healthy, happy, hyper kid. Now he can't move on his own and has no facial expression; just a blank, distant stare. Another cute little girl is there for rehabilitation after brain surgery. She had such severe seizures that the doctors felt surgery was the best route. She's been seizure free for a month but she still takes massive amounts of seizure medications. I'm very thankful that the gtube is our only issue.
We started observing Julia behind a 2-way window during her meals. Her behavior was typical but it didn't last nearly as long as it would here at home. For the most part, the therapists feed her the way we did; minus our ability to get sucked into Julia's games. The biggest difference is that the therapists remain neutral when responding to her. They're patient, use a neutral voice and unless Julia is taking her bites or playing with her reward, and they ignore her comments. That's where we went wrong - ignoring her comments. If she said "I love you, mommy" I would say "I love you, too so lets take a bite." The therapists pointed out that even though it sounds like Julia is being all nice and sweet, she has the upper hand because she's found a way to postpone taking the bite. Makes sense but it's easier said then done. Monday, we begin sitting in the room with Julia and the therapist. Should be interesting.
Miss Social Butterfly has made lots of friends and we've gotten to know many of the parents. Some of their stories are so heart breaking. A few doors down from us is a 3 year old boy who has severe brain damage because he aspirated on a grape. Prior to the incident, he was a healthy, happy, hyper kid. Now he can't move on his own and has no facial expression; just a blank, distant stare. Another cute little girl is there for rehabilitation after brain surgery. She had such severe seizures that the doctors felt surgery was the best route. She's been seizure free for a month but she still takes massive amounts of seizure medications. I'm very thankful that the gtube is our only issue.
posted by dcj @ 9:03:00 AM
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