Today we tried the bottle. It went how I figured it would. He had trouble with it in general. Sucking, swallowing, and breathing, was a little much for him to do at one time. Over 30 minutes we got about 19 mls down him – which isn’t that much. He had the hiccups for 5 to 10 minutes of the 30 minutes I tried to feed him. During that time I really could not feed him at all. Then, the very last minute of the 30 minutes of the feeding, he puked up half of what he ate all over both of us. Fun times.
That is pretty much how I really did anticipate it would go for the first attempt. I have NO IDEA how long it will take him to be able to learn to eat. There is no way to tell really. Not to mention just learning how to eat, his stomach also has to learn what to do with it. He has been tube fed into his intestines, so his stomach really has no clue what to do. Time will tell how this will all play out. Today we just attempted one bottle feeding. We will ‘try’ again tomorrow and see how it goes. Let the games begin…………..
I'm sorry he had a tough time with his first bottle. But I'm glad they at least attempted to give it to him. That's progress, even if it didn't go smoothly. Reading this post brought back a lot of memories of sitting in the NICU watching Maleah try to eat from a bottle. Although Maleah didn't have CDH, it took her a long time to learn to suck, breathe, and eat all at the same time. She also couldn't stay awake to finish eating because it would take her forever just to get 5 ml down. But she did it - little by little, she learned how. And I think Garrett sounds like an amazing little fighter, just like Maleah was. He'll get there. I will continue to pray for him and for you!!
ReplyDeleteGood luck tomorrow and stay positive! Garrett has been a tough little boy so far, and I bet he just might surprise you with his ability to take the bottle!
ReplyDeleteI am impressed, actually. I know it doesn't sound like a victory- but at least he tried! The whole suck/swallow/breathe mechanism is a lot to master- but after some practice, he'll get it down!
ReplyDeleteGarrett Caravia also has some Erwin and Lepp blood in him. I can't imagine he won't learn to eat!
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