EATING UPDATE

Two weeks ago we were really concerned about Lauren because it had been three weeks since she had gained any weight. As she was growing in length, she was looking skinnier and skinnier. It was hard to get weight on her because my milk was drying up (ongoing stress will do that to you) and she was refusing solid food.

Lauren's pediatrician diagnosed her with an oral aversion and I promptly went home and researched a bunch of stuff about oral aversions and how to deal with them. The basic gist of it is to help them focus on things other than the eating because if Lauren thinks about it, she gags and then bad things happen. We have had Tinkerbell flying past and encouraging Lauren with every bite, she has watched all sorts of YouTube videos, we have plugged her into Disney DVDs with Ariel making a personal appearance and when I'm feeling really guilty we watch Fantasia and I tell myself that at least she is listening to classical music with her cartoon viewing. I figure that as long as it's going down the hatch, we are all good.

And success! In the last two weeks, Lauren has gained just under an ounce a day. She now has purees or oatmeal four times a day and she is not having as many vagal episodes. Her doctor has said that we need to get as much fat as possible into her so she is on my dream diet... butter on everything! I have a container of butter near the microwave and I melt a little to mix into every one of her meals. She even eats pears with butter mixed in. Her little leg rolls seem to be evidence enough that this is working. Right now she is 15 pounds, 8 ounces. We will see what she weighs in at next week.

No, I don't put butter on her toes... though maybe I should. Those are in her mouth pretty frequently.