Faith's Blended Diet and Other Things that Help with Her Digestion

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This page contains affiliate links and Faith's Mom may earn a commission if you use them. As an Amazon Associate, Faith's Mom earns from qualifying purchases.  Learn more.   Ever since Faith was born, she has struggled with her digestion. When she was in the NICU, she would spit up after eating even the tiniest amount of formula. Her dad and I were convinced her tummy was too small to handle large volumes of food. Sometimes when she ate, her heart rate would drop really low, which is why she needed to be in the NICU for longer. She just could not get the hang of eating and breathing at the same time!  Faith receiving food through an NG tube in the NICU.  Grandma giving Faith a bottle when she was 2 months old.  After finally bringing her home, eating continued to be an issue as she struggled with severe reflux and constipation. We tried various formulas, but she was never able to drink enough formula to gain a lot of weight. She also had trouble burping, and she...
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Tuesday Tidbits - Home, Work, and School

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I really can't believe it is nearing the middle of September already. Time flies though when there is so much going on! It seems that once school starts our schedules go on overdrive!

I am very thankful to report that Faith is really enjoying third grade! She is back to driving her power chair at school and it is nice that her classroom is on the main floor so the only class she takes the elevator for is music. She really loves her teacher and this year she has one new instructional aide and also a new special education teacher. 

Faith in her third-grade classroom

Unfortunately, I was not able to attend her IEP meeting, but Rob was able to go, and it went pretty well. It is great to know that her principal, teachers, aides and therapists are all working together to help her accomplish her goals for the year.

They are going to focus more on learning through audio rather than visual. This is due to the fact that she has such great memorization skills when she hears something. Reading is still very challenging, and she has not made a lot of progress learning visually. We won't give up on that though and are still praying she will be able to read one day!

Last week she had a doctor's appointment with her pediatrician, and I was disappointed to learn that she has actually lost a couple of pounds since trying to feed her more solids and less pediasure. She is so skinny - only weighing 47 pounds. 

The hard part is she is so tall which makes her look even more skinny. (Part of it is genetics, I know.) Although her pediatrician is not overly worried about her weight, we are going to be trying a different type of enteral formula that contains more protein to see if that helps.

As far as work, I am trying a new schedule next week so that I don't have to be there until 9:00 a.m. I can't believe I am trying this because I used to love my shift when I started work at 7:00 a.m. so I could be home at 4:00. But going in at 9:00 will give me the opportunity to see Faith in the mornings, plus it would give Rob the option of driving me to work if he needed the van that day. (Our Hyundai is not very reliable these days.)
 
Me, Rob and our Supergirl at a church picnic

Rob and I have started going to a small group study at New Life Church on Wednesday nights. I like to get involved in a women's Bible study in the fall but I'm so happy me and Rob are doing this together. It's a video/book series called Relentless: The Power You Need to Never Give Up by John Bevere.

Although the church offers childcare so that couples can attend together, it is great that we have respite care available so that Faith can stay home and get ready for bed. A few other events I am looking forward to is the first Java JOY of the season and the Beth Moore Simulcast at First Evangelical Free this Saturday

I know many look forward to football during this time of the year - I don't watch much NFL, but I love watching the NDSU Bison football games on TV. 

I wish I could go to a game at the Fargodome, but the tickets are all sold out for this season. I will be cheering them on from home to win another national championship!

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