Dec 9 - Eating, Drinking, and Sitting Up

Dec 9th - Kyle has been showing more consistent interest in eating & drinking. As of the last update he was showing sporadic interest - maybe one or two meals a day he'd be eating something. In the past week or so he has been consistently eating and drinking almost every meal, although the amounts are still tiny and he is nowhere near being weaned. He is now consistently taking more sips of water (with milk added) multiple times per meal and actually swallowing food taken from spoons. We are very excited at this progress. We have worked so hard and so long to see this and just two days before he started drinking I was ready to give up. I was actually telling the consultants that this was not working because his progress had stalled and he went almost a week with no improvements and showed little interest in food many meals in a row. But then he shocked us all! And I thought it was going to be a one-time occurrence again like he did in the past but he actually continued to show interest meal after meal, day after day. His oral skills have also improved. The consultants had us experiment different cups to find something that he can manage better than our giant 16 oz glass and I found this Oxo tot transitions cup that seemed like it would be a good fit for him - a clear cup that he could see, a top with a recessed lid that he could still grab and hold by the rim, and feel the liquids gathered on the sides of the rim. He was choking and gagging a little bit the first day but was able to drink from it with no issues the next day. He used to gag and vomit on food that wasn't completely smooth and now he's able to swallow or cough it up with minimal issues. There are still meals and days that are better or worse, that he shows more or less interest than others but that is to be expected with all kids, typical or brain-injured preemies. We are hoping that he is going to take off and start consuming more and more and we will be able to remove his feeding tube soon. Kyle has also been vomit-free for three weeks now!! Woohoo!!

Kyle has made great improvements on his motor skills. About a week ago he started being able to get into the sitting position from his hands and knees (more like elbows and knees) and then at his PT session on Wednesday he was able to get into sitting completely from his belly all by himself. He loved it so much he kept doing it that day and he has been sitting up by himself ever since and has also learned to use his right hand to assist the left in pulling himself up in just two days! We are so so proud of him!! Kyle is still not taking steps in his gait trainer - he is still doing the bunny hops but his PT is working hard on coming up with new ways to help him learn.

Kyle has so many molars either already out or are coming in I lost count of how many teeth he has now.