Nom Nom

Well, many of you may have been long awaiting the results of our swallow study (much as we were). Instead of telling you the results......

                                   

During the swallow study, I have never been able to feed Sophia more than a few drops of food before they have asked me to stop. This time, they had me feed her with the dropper then with a baby spoon and finally they said "Let's try some yogurt, too". After a few bits of the yogurt, which Sophia made a sour face towards, they walked over with the best news ever. They told me, I think Sophia is ready to start eating by mouth!!! I cried happy tears instantly. What a thrill. They went on to tell me that Sophia could eat one tablespoon, three times a day. They want her to eat baby food purees, yogurt, pudding, mash potatoes, and even ICING for her birthday was OKAYED!! Well a few hours passed, we were upstairs at our pulmonary visit and the nurse came around and said "I don't want to do this, but I have bad news. The speech therapist called and said to put the feedings on hold until the doctor reviews the video again." Talk about the worst "take-back" EVER. I was on cloud 50 million about our previous news and now I felt like someone hit in right in the gut. UGH. So now we wait, we ended up waiting until today to find out the news, mind you our appointment was last Thursday before the holiday weekend. However, today, I finally received word, that Sophia in fact HAS THE GREEN LIGHT to eat by mouth. This time, it is only two tablespoon per day. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. If there is any signs of aspiration we are to stop and call the doctor. Today, Sophia's Daddy and I fed her her first couple bites of baby food. It really is an undescribeable feeling. To be able to parttake in what many would think was a mondane activity with your baby, to us is a miracle. A true treasure. Eating is so social. So normal. It is amazing to be able to introduce Sophia into this new world of foods with TASTE. However, small a victory this may seem, too us this is HUGE and we couldn't be more happy. It came right at the perfect time too, Sophia turns ONE YEAR OLD tomorrow and now she may enjoy in smashing her cake and eating the icing. That in itself is gift enough, especially to this mommy. 

Sophia's pulmonary visit also went very well. For now everything remains the same, in two months if everything is still good they are going to order another bronch to check her airway for collaspe. If her airway still looks clear, they will order a full day sleep study at Riley. We will check-in during the morning and once Sophia goes down for a nap, they will take her trach out and see how she sleeps. If she does well during her nap they will take it out and watch her sleep all night without it. If she passes that, we will go home that next morning without her trach. If she fails, the nap we start over a few months later. This is amazingly surprising news. If everything goes as planned, Sophia could have her trach out within 3 months. Wow! What a whole new world that will bring. Keep the prayers coming, you know I had a revealation as well, if you don't believe in the power of prayer, I hope just knowing Sophia's story can change her hearts and minds.