Evie the Extraordinary and Her Mommy: The Journey As We Go

For those of you getting excited by my title, no, she is not completely eating by mouth yet.  But she is completely on real food! Evie just switched this past month to a different "formula" because Pediasure Peptide 1.5 density seemed to be causing her to lose weight.  She had been gaining on 1.0 density, but we were trying to help her to cut down on the amount of formula needed to maintain weight and still be interested in food.  Once she started losing weight, the GI doctor theorized that she was having absorption problems with the Pediasure, and suggested that we just switch her to Real Food Blends or Nourish. Both of these blends are real, blenderized food, and I was a big fan of getting her off of formula.  Not only would it be healthier in general, but she might become more regular as well (sorry, TMI, but not sorry). Back in our Pediasure days, we used one can a day and poured some in through the g-tube throughout the day, as you would any liquid with the ...

Evie stands voluntarily now! The thing about having a toddler on a feeding tube is that they become more active, and burn off the calories you work so hard to put in to gain weight.   It used to be just using Pediasure formula to fatten her up when she was an infant, but it's more complex now. She actually weaned off eating with the iPad (whew!), but I wanted to show that she likes chocolate pudding! In the latest chapter in the saga of helping Evie to gain weight, we hit a plateau where we were giving her formula by tube and then feeding her pureed foods orally, but she was still growing at a slower rate than optimal.  At that point, the GI doc was concerned, and we could start seeing her ribs, despite adding oils and Duocal supplement to every meal.  We were so close to weaning her off formula, and then she started learning to walk and going to school to learn to be a big girl!  It felt like a step backwards to add back in more formula.  I was so...