Liam is 6 weeks old today! I can't believe how the time has already flown by...
We had our repeat barium swallow test done today and it wasn't good news. Liam is still aspirating a small amount on even the thickest formula...his swallowing is just not strong enough to clear away the small amount of residual remaining. We will have to keep him on complete tube feedings for at least another 6 weeks, when we will go back to have the test done again. I broke down today while the nurse was explaining everything today...I just really wasn't prepared for him to have to be on this tube for much longer. It is especially hard on us at night because he gets really hungry and colicky. I keep thinking the bottle would soothe him and let him know we are meeting his needs and feeding him when he is telling us he is hungry. We also have to decide whether we are going to keep him on the NG tube he has now or if we will have to have a more permanent gastro tube surgically implaced. Hopefully our pediatrician will allow us the option to keep the NG tube like we have now...but I am not sure the ramifications of keeping this temporary solution for too much longer.
The Lord has even today shown me how this trial will grow Dustin and I as parents and also benefit Liam. I really thought that the act of giving Liam a bottle would soothe him in his colic at night, and it may have. But I found another way to soothe him...the Moby wrap! I wanted to order a sling to carry Liam around with me and be able to be hands free. He is so calm and happy when I am holding him, so it just made perfect sense to get a sling to carry him to keep him, and me, happy and stress free. So I did some research and found the Moby wrap. There is definately a learning curve on how you put it on, as it is just a really LONG piece of sturdy knit fabric and you wrap it around you and the baby so it holds the baby on to you. It worked GREAT tonight...I wrapped Liam up in it kangaroo style when he was getting really fussy and he went instantly asleep...really, instantly. He stayed that way while I cleaned up the kitchen, got his bottles ready for the evening and did some laundry....awesome. Plus, the booklet that came with instructions had a lot of great tips and things to do to help your baby sleep better, relax, calm and thrive. Baby massage was one of the suggestions, so Dustin said he is going to do this with Liam every night.
Even though today was another setback, I remembered again how everything we have gone through has been very purposeful - both for Liam's healing and our faith walk. I choose to believe that this is yet another trial that will be overcome both physically and spiritually.
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