Baby Whisperer

As usual getting in to these places to get therapy is not easy and there is usually a really long wait list. It seems when your child is on the verge of dehydration it would put you at the top of the list for "feeding therapy" but then again I guess you only qualify for feeding therapy if you are not eating.

Yesterday I was quite frustrated about the whole thing but then my grandmother had a genius idea: ask Maggie's NICU nurse to come show you how she feeds Maggie. (Her nurse is an angel and has babysat for us a few times and this past Sunday she got Maggie to eat 3 ounces!). Anyway, the angel that she is, she came over right away and showed me how she fed Maggie.

Interestingly she still puts Maggie on her side while she eats, just like she did in the NICU (I thought that she was old enough not to do that but with the reflux she thinks it is a good idea). She cupped the back of her so she wouldn't stretch back (she is always trying to "get away" from the reflux). She held her bottom and legs close against her side so she couldn't kick away. The lights were dim. Mary Lawrence was asleep so that helped as well. She burped her laying down - who would have thought?! If she stopped sucking she just rubbed her head to get her to restart. She didn't talk and I didn't either. And, guess what, in 10 minutes the bottle was empty! I couldn't believe it. Either I am a really incompetent mother or she truly is a baby whisperer. She just said that she has babies that are in the NICU for 6 months or more and have these same feeding issues and she has just learned really good techniques for getting them to eat.  Still, I was in awe.

A few hours later I couldn't get the same results by myself, but it was a little better. I have been making the room completely dark so she can't be distracted and holding her on her side just like her nurse did. I had to have a talk with ML about how we need to be really quiet when Maggie eats (good luck with that, right?!)While she's not eating the full amounts, she is eating more than last week, which is huge. And I praise God for that encouragement. And I feel like I have things I can work on until we can get to the doctor and to the therapist.  If only I could hire our baby whisperer full time to show me how to deal with all these hiccups in a preemie's life!