Friday, December 19, 2008

Pedialyte trial going well so far

So yesterday, about 11:15am, they hooked up a tube to the tube running out of Riley's nose to a pump that contained a syringe full of pedialyte. They pumped in 2cc's per hour continously from that point on. An EXTREMELY slow amount. Remember, this is passing through intestine that has NEVER had food pass through it. But so far, he's doing great. His belly girth is the same (this is important because if it goes up...could indicate his anastamosis is leaking again, or a blockage), he has seemed quite comfortable, so no apparent pain from anything feeding related, no vomiting and best I can tell, it doesn't seem like he's dumping so far, but that will be constantly evaluated. He should have enough intestine to NOT dump...but they also have to relearn how to do what they are meant to do.

So the plan as we know it right now is probably continue on pedialyte today and if things still go great...move on to a special formula called Neocate tomorrow. We asked why they suggesting a formula over the pumped breast milk. The answer is this: neocate is a hypoallergenic formula that is completely broken down into the raw enzymes and minerals the body needs. Basically, he doesn't have to actually digest it to get the nutrition from it. PLUS...from all of the antibiotics he has been on, not only pretty much his entire life, but the last 3 weeks in particular...he pretty much has NO bacteria in his body. Which sounds great in theory, but we all naturally have GOod bacteria in our digestive tracts that help to digest and break down our food. He's lacking those as well. So the Neocate gives his body something to process, and allow the good bacteria to reform, without making it work TOO hard on digestion. So once we move on to the Neocate, he'll likely have several days of "eating" that and then he'll move on to breast milk. ALSO...the nurse last night said that typically, once he moves on to the Neocate...they will begin to decrease his TPN rate...so as the formula/milk feeding amounts increase, the TPN will decrease. OH how happy will we be to see less and less of that yellow liquid flowing into him. It has sustained him, and for that we are thankful, but it's been a LOOOONG time and his poor liver needs a break from it.

So that is where we are with the feeding as far as I know right now. His refluxing has become a little more obvious with the loss of the replogle tube the past few days, but his feeds are bypassing his stomach and going straight to his intestine for the time being so they are causing it to be worse. I think once they know his gut is tolerating the food passing through it, they will have him try bottling his feeds and we'll see where we are with the reflux then. But one thing at a time.

Travis has a half day of school today and then he's headed up here. Since Jay and I both have been away from him all week (I have been in a class for work), we are DYING to see him! A funny story about him....they had a little "store" at school that they let the kids go browse for gifts for mom and dad. Travis told Grandaddy that he needed $10 to buy a gift for mommy and daddy at the store on Wednesday. So dad gives him $10. WELL....Mr Smart Shopper buys a $3 gift for daddy, a $2 gift for Mommy and a $5 item for himself!!! how funny is that? so Grandaddy tells him he has to wait till Christmas to have it! haha, which Travis was NOT happy about but after a conversation with mommy, he got over it. and before you think he forgot about Riley...they didn't have stuff for babies :o) So he will be shopping for Riley at Target most likely.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lindsey,

What great news!!!!! Tell Riley to keep up the good work and keep that food going!!! Beryl

Anonymous said...

Hoping and praying that Riley's feedings continue to go well, and that soon, he will be able to suck from the bottle again. Keep those "baby steps" coming Riley!!! Cute story about Travis (typical kid!) Gotta love him. He did his math really well!
Love and Hugs to all,
Dale

Anonymous said...

How awesome to read about Riley's progress....so happy...would love to see a pic of Grandma meeting him and seeing all of you! Wish us luck for our Nor Easter! Supposed to get 12 inches today!
Take care and hugs to all!

Anonymous said...

Lindsey, Thanks again for the updates..Baby Riley, so happy you are tolerating the Pedialyte. Happy baby steps, one step at a time. I love Travis' shopping story...smart boy! Ha! Have a good weekend, Hugs, Pauline

Anonymous said...

That is great news about Riley! As for Travis's shopping spree...mine did that too when she was his age...KIDs..gotta love them!

Alice

Anonymous said...

Lindsey, I am so happy to hear this good news about Riley. Keep taking it one step at a time. I enjoyed reading about Travis' christmas shopping experience. This sounds familiar as we have something like this at our school for children to shop. I've seen this happen quite often. :) Continuing to think about you often and keeping you in our prayers. Love, Debbie and Gary

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