A week later....

So here we are, a week later after the Marcus evaluation....and our little man is doing very well with puréed foods!!! :)

{Actually ate some beans at the Mexican restaurant! The first time he has eaten a decent amount of food in a busy restaurant like that!}

Each day he is taking more and more by mouth, today he took about an average of 4 ounces per meal! I am not sure of the  number of bites because I just a quit counting....why count when he is so willing to eat them?! As soon as he swallows I am offering another bite! This is HUGE! I am hoping and praying that he continues down this path. Josh and I both agree we are willing to purée up whatever he wants as long as he eats it. Eventually we will work on more textures but now I say lets master getting enough daily intake and then textures. Now don't get me wrong, we still offer things that need to be crunched and chewed but it is randomly throughout the day or near the end of a meal. I still want him to get practice chewing, I don't want to loose the skills that he has already learned.

So, we are weighing the foods before and after so we can get an accurate count of the total he is eating. I then subtract that from his total amount of gtube feeds and give him the remaining amount of his blenderized food in his tube. We also are counting calories to make sure he at least maintains his weight. So there is alot of calculating that goes into his meals each day. 

Here are just a few things he has been eating: chickpeas, beans, potatoes, green beans, coconut yogurt, mixed fruit, beef, chicken- all puréed. He has been eating about 1/2 banana, taking his own bites from the actual banana the past couple days- just amazing! He is also is drinking juice! That is another big step considering anything but water would make him gag and vomit. Thanks to a littleElmo   on a juice box, he is drinking about 3 4 oz "Elmo juice" per day. Hey, it is extra calories....every little bit counts! 

{Drinking juice}

We couldn't be more excited and proud of our big man! I will continue to update, hopefully things will continue to progress! We go to see his nutrition and special needs doctor in Spartanburg next week, my plans are to tell them I am ready to wean his gtube feeds now! I feel if he is this interested, then why not wean his feeds and allow him to feel hunger instead of always being full...it has got to help with his oral intake!