The bummer about the test is milk/food must be withheld for 3-4 hours prior to the procedure. This is the most unpleasant part of the deal. But due to his age, they want him to be hungry at the time of testing.
Our first swallow study was August 10, 2010. Laik was just a few days past six weeks old. I had taken him to our pediatrician the week before because he seemed to be getting chugged up at every feeding. And he had this gurgle in his throat that seemed to never go away. It was this annoying sound that worried me! So, here we go....to Children's for our study.
Laik is dressed in his fancy mint green hospital issued gown that ties in the back and I get to don a 25 pound lead apron. I stand in front of him and give him the bottle with "thin" liquid. The speech therapist, after just a few sucks on the bottle, instructs me to stop. Then she gives me a bottle with "nectar" liquid and again, instructs me to stop. And finally a bottle with "honey" liquid. And yet again, instructs me to stop. She then proceeds to tell me that Laik is aspirating when he swallows with thin and nectar consistency liquids. He did the best with "honey" consistency, which she had concerns about it as well.
To sum it up for the first visit, she informs me that since I am feeding Laik breast milk it must be thickened with a product called "simply thick" and in Chattanooga it can be purchased at one pharmacy or online. Oh and it isn't cheap! I then ask her, what if this doesn't help? So to the dark side we go....her reply: He will have to have another swallow study and then maybe a feeding tube if he isn't successful with thickening his milk. AGHHHHHH! (Unfortunately, some 12p children have to have feeding tubes.)
Not so dark after all, feeding Laik once we had thickened his milk was much more pleasant. I was able to relax. But then we had NIPPLE drama....finding just the right nipple for him was like finding the perfect dress for a wedding...near impossible, but then wha-la....AVENT wins! So the Honey thickness fun began!
Laik had his second study in February 2011. Improvement.....NECTAR consistency and baby food approval. I will admit, I cheated for about 2 months prior to that test and thinned his milk and started baby food. He loved baby food and had no aversions. Yeah! So, it has been smooth sailing with milk and food since then. But no solid solids...yet. Which led to our most recent study on July 13, 2011.
Study #3....I won't lie....I was hoping for success with NO thickening! But really I wanted to know about foods. Laik just does not handle solids well at all, it is GAG O RAMA! And I'm sure it doesn't help that he still doesn't have any teeth. (I really think we are on the verge of some teeth erupting....the drooling is increasing daily!)
The feeding specialist informed me that Laik just doesn't really know what to do with solids once they get on the back of his tongue. His "sucking" tongue action is great..up and down and up and down. But chewing requires side to side action from the tongue. Sadly, our boy just doesn't have it. Sooooooo, now we are adding to our physician/specialist/therapist line-up with an evaluation with a feeding specialist. I'll keep you posted on how that goes!
As for now, we are happy that Laik feeds well, even if it does have to be thickened. But as long as Ella's Kitchen Brand keeps making tasty baby foods and I can mash up some of our table foods, Laik's palate is going to be treated!
This food thing is an adventure! We will work on it and hopefully, the next time, thin it will be! Oh, and chewing too!
1 comment:
Ella had her 3rd swallow study early July and no progress was made....she still needs the honey consistency. We were told to use a different kind of "thickener" that is less expensive, but the simply thick works so well that we're just sticking with it! We make and mash/blend all of Ella's food. I highly recommend "Blender Baby Food" by Nicole Young and Nadine Day. We have found so many wonderful recipes that Ella just loves. Ella has the same issues with not moving food around in her mouth and even with a mouth full of teeth, she's not chewing. Feeding therapy has helped...slow progress. We also had nipple drama and found that the Nuk is the only nipple that she'll use. I look forward to hearing how Laik does with the feeding therapy!!! Our babies keep us on our toes, right! :)
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