Schlopp, Schlopp, Beautiful Schlopp

Beautiful Schlopp with a Cherry on Top - Dr Seuss

Well, not exactly.

Last week (er...two weeks ago) we had a couple eating/food related appointments.

Guac - huge hit.
*And* it comes with toy chips to play with!

On the eating front - we are supposed to keep practicing. Per Doc, a follow-up swallow study requires three bites.... in a row.... consistently. Yeah.... we're not there yet. We are doing great...we can definitely get excited about food and stick our tongue out and lick our lips and get stuff in and swallow (!) including a good bite here and there. But repetitively and with any consistency? Um... not so much. So we will keep practicing.

On to the Schlopp!

This is shocking news but studies are starting to show that it helps in retraining little tube fed bodies how to eat (the physiological part... stomachs filling, emptying, appetite inducing, good brain/body joojoo, etc.) - if you give them real food. Say whaaaaat!?! Real food? You don't say.

Well, we are certainly up for implementing the obvious. We met with the nutritionist and are now armed with recipes and instructions for mixing up a daily concoction of goo that we shove (not an exaggeration) thru the tube slowly.

Clarification: No, coffee (shown in pic) is not part of the recipe. Yes, puréed veggie and fruit (not shown) is. Molasses or honey provides the carb, baby oatmeal the fiber, yogurt the dairy, baby meat the protein (haven't attempted to purée meat at home), oil for the fat and formula is the base-ish/liquidy part.

Not a wholesale change yet...we are still transitioning. We are up to three of the five 'meals' per day being real food. So far so good. Jacob seems to be spitting up less and also seems to have more energy. And also likes not being tied to the pump for an hour at a time. We are making all kinds of mistakes learning how to do it but that mostly involves puddles of goo ending up somewhere other than his stomach. Our clothes and furniture will survive.

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