Beans

Tonight's blend
2 c Rice Milk
2 c cooked oatmeal
1.5 lima beans
1 3oz can of chicken
1 3.5 oz prunes (baby food)
1 c mixed berries
1 banana
1 tbs flax oil

This blend was about 1300 calories. I measured the damn beans wrong so that threw in an extra 100. This made about 44 ounces.

Oi

Something in Spencer's blend from last night didn't sit well with him today...we had two bath worthy pukes. Anyhow, I did discover that tuna has flipping soy in it...there goes another protein.

Anyhow, tonight's blend made wayyyyy too much. I screwed something up somewhere. Instead of attempting to feed him 8 ounces a feed, plus water, I'm just going to put a little more olive oil in each bottle. We'll see how that goes.

Tonights blend:
1 c spinach
1 c peas
2 bananas
2 c rice milk
2 c cooked oatmeal
1 tbs flax oil
4 oz apple juice
1 3 oz can of chicken

Just under 1200 calories, but with water and such it made 60 ounces!

Too much!

My updating schedule is off. Hopefully this gets me back on track.
For Spencer's blend for today:
2 c oatmeal
2 c rice milk
3 oz tuna
1 banana
1 c blueberries
2 c green beans
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs flax oil

Tonight's blend:
1 c cherios
1.5 C pasta
1 advacado
1 jar of baby beef with gravy
1.5 c papaya
2 c carrots
2 c rice milk
1 tbs flax oil
Right around 1200 calories

I also discovered tonight I've been giving Spencer a half a cup too much of fruit and of veggies...he is supposed to get 1.5 cup veggies, 1 c fruit. It won't hurt him by any means, but where veggies don't have a ton of calories, I can use that space better in his blend:)

Dos, por favor

Last night I made two blends...one in case of an emergency, like if I had to have another emergency gallbladder removal and was held hostage at the friendly local hospital for four days and my infant son was left with his father again. While impressed that my two favorite men in my life had not joined a feral colony in my time away, I'm not exactly sure what my husband would put in a blend if he had to do one. I plan on having a few back up blends in the freezer at any given time.

Anyhow, here they are in all their glory:

Blend # 1:
1.5 c peaches
1.5 c sweet potato
1/4 c walnuts
1 tbsp Flax Oil
2.5 Oz Turkey
1 c carrots
2 c oatmeal
2 c rice milk
About 1300 calories

Blend #2:
1 c peaches
1.5 c sweet potatoes
1 tbsp flax oil
1 c carrots
2 large eggs (so far, so good on allergies!)
2 c oatmeal
2 c rice milk
4 oz apple juice
About 1200 Calories

Blend #2 made way too much:(

Walnuts

Last night was a little crazy so I didn't get to post his blend for last night. Good news, Spencer isn't allergic to walnuts...bad news, they get clogged in his tube. Gotta figure out a way to get them blended down to crushed pill consistency.

Anyhow, after going to buy a strainer after hanging out at the ER for a few hours with an awake and cranky baby (his dad was the patient) I discovered trying to do his 12am feed that it wouldn't go through. We stopped at Kroger to fill Jimmy (DH) script and I got a strainer. With a little force, the blend went in fine after that. Jimmy was complaining he couldn't get it to go in and said, "Never again do walnuts! I've had to go unclog like four times!"

Anyhow his blend contained:
1 2.5 oz container of baby prunes
4 oz apple juice
1 tbs olive oil
2 oz baby food meat
1/4 c walnuts
2 c rice milk
1.5 c peas (frozen previously and thawed)
1.5 c pears (same)
2 c cooked oatmeal

About 1250 calories

Omega

So I guess Spencer can't do peanuts either. He was a little puke machine all day. Anyhow, lesson learned. We are going to try almond butter next.
Tonight's blend...a little lazy tonight...dug some purees out of the freezer:)
1 c strawberries
1.5 c squash
1 advacado
4 tsp olive oil
2 c rice milk
2 c oatmeal
3 oz beef with gravy baby food
3.5 oz peas

I'm trying to figure out a good way to get omega 3s in Spencer's diet. Vitamins are out because either they have soy in them or they are gummy:(

2 Days

I forgot to update for the night before last. He had:
2 c oatmeal
1/2 c Dark Red Kidney Beans (bad idea!!!)
4 tsp of olive oil
2 c rice milk
1 oz beef with gravy baby food
2 c peas and carrots
1 1/2 c apples

He had terrible gas all day today. He is handling higher volumes which is awesome. He puked today, but I think I pushed the limit.

Tonight's blend:
2 c chopped spinach
2 c rice milk
4 tsp of olive oil
3/4 c blue berries
4 oz mango juice
3 tbs peanut butter (soy free this time)
2 c whole wheat spaghetti

Discovery

So we may have made a discovery...So whenever Spencer has a blend with any kind of product that contains milk he hangs onto a lot of residual. I put bread in his blend yesterday, which was the only new thing he hadn't had before, and he was a puke machine at daycare today. When ever I tried to feed him at home, he had a lot of residual. I'm going to watch ingredients like a hawk and see if my theory is right.
Tonight's blend contains:
4 TBS of Olive oil (I needed some calories)
2 oz of turkey and gravy baby food
2 cups of apples
2 cups of green beans
2 c cooked oatmeal
2 c rice milk

It's purple!

Spencer's blend for tomorrow is purple. Thanks to blueberries...
Anyhow:
2 c rice milk
4 tsp olive oil
4 slices of 100% whole wheat wonder bread
1 zuchinni (about 2 cups)
3/4 c blue berries
2 bananas
1 oz Turkey with broth baby food
2 oz Beef with gravy baby food
Just under 1200 calories. (I calculated 1190).

Papaya

So we have a suspected peanut allergy. Either that or Spencer is in a foul mood today. We'll try peanut butter again to see if it was him being grumpy or having a reaction.
Anyhow, tonight's blend:
3 oz Beef and Gravy baby food
2 c rice milk
2 c cooked oatmeal
1.5 c peas
4 oz garden vegetables
1.5 c papaya
4 oz Fruit and yogurt baby food (my go to food for calories)
4 tsp olive oil

Peanut Butter (No Jelly)

So tonight's blend is including peanut butter. Our nutritionist told us they re edited guidelines recently so it's cool for kids Spencer's age to have it. So we shall see...
Anyhow, tonight's blend:
3 TBS Peanut Butter
2 C Rice Milk
2 C Cooked Oatmeal
1 C pureed cantaloupe
2 bananas
4 tsp olive oil
2 c cooked carrots

It totaled around 1300 calories, but then I spilled some...so around 1200!

We'll try you again avocado!

Spencer digested his blend for today beautifully. It will so be a repeat!
Anyhow, the blend tonight for tomorrow:
1.5 c fresh pear puree
2 c. Summer squash puree
2 oz turkey with gravy
3 c rice milk
3/4 c Cream of Wheat
1/4 c Cherios
4 tsp olive oil
1 avocado (I had to blend a bunch of times plus added water!)

Before the avocado it was around 900 calories. The avocado put us in the 1250 range. I need to find a high calorie veggie!

Oh, bananas!

Today Spencer ate:
2 c cooked oatmeal
8 oz green beans
7 oz mixed veggies
3 bananas
4 oz apples and bananas puree
2 c rice milk
4 tsp olive oil
3 oz turkey with gravy
Equals around 1300 calories. The bananas took him over his limit today. But they looked so yummy.....
Tonight was a lazy blend night. Tomorrow I'm going to try to blend my own green beans and/or summer squash. We'll also probably do pears as his fruit.

Blender time

I ordered an Oster blender off Amazon and it came in today. It did a pretty good job.
On today's menu:
2 c Rice Milk
1 1/2 c steamed peaches
1 1/2 c steamed carrots
1 banana
1 jar of Beef with Gravy
4 tsp of Olive Oil
2 c of cooked oatmeal

I gave him a little less veggies and a little more fruit today. The oatmeal blended really nicely when I added the milk to it. The carrots had to be blended again, but overall the blend was pretty smooth.

Oh, avocado!

The first blend I did tonight ended in utter disaster. Cherios don't get as mushy as I thought they would. Hopefully with a blender we'll be able to get them fine enough..if not, bran flakes would do well. Avocado did not blend how I wanted it to and left major chunks in his food. I scraped that batch and created the following:
2 packs of cream of wheat (prepared)
1/4 cup of whole grain baby cereal
2 cups of Enriched Rice Dream
1 2.5 oz stage 1 prunes
2 3.5 oz stage 2 banana and granola
1 4 oz bananas
2 4 oz mixed veggies
1 4oz squash
3 oz of turkey and gravy dinner
4 tsp of olive oil
= About 1200 calories
I did try some peanut butter with Spencer tonight. I'm going to try it again tomorrow before I'm confident enough to incorporate it into his blends. I'm also going to attempt to make my own baby food tomorrow. If we can buy veggies and fruit in bulk when it's cheap, then we can offset some of the costs.

My Little Puke Machine

So I have a kid who doesn't eat by mouth. Correction: I have a kid who doesn't eat enough by mouth to survive. He is also pretty freaking cute:
Spencer diagnosis is Multiple congenital anamolies due to an unspecified genetic disorder." What does it mean? That they have no clue what he has. Yeah, he probably has a genetic disorder. He has a giant list of medical issues which include cranio facial muscle weakness, mild hypotonia, bronchomalacia, largynamalacia, trachemalacia, submoucal cleft pallet, micgrograthia, low set ears, ptosis,possible distal arthogryposis with contractors in his fingers, left knee, and feet, club foot (unilaterial), ASD, VSD, hypospadius,hypothyroidism, central and obstructive sleep apnea, moderate to severe hearing loss, allergies to milk, soy, lavender, chocolate, and newly discovered, chicken, developmental delays, and whatever else I forgot..I also am not spell checking....
He has had five surgeries with two more in the works. He has had PE tubes, tear duct irrigation and tubes, g-tube placement, tentonomy, and a supraglottoplasty. He has a kick-ass feeding tube, supplemental oxygen at night (rarely needed), hearing aids, and a Ponseti bar he wears 12 hours a day. He receives PT, OT and is starting speech soon.
Needless to say...we have our hands full. Spencer is healthy as a horse except for the occasional ear infection (with tubes...thanks Pierre Robin Sequence). He is super smart and funny, and does something to wow me everyday. He is very interested in putting things in his mouth and toys that make the most annoying music possible.
Spencer also has something else:
REFLUX
My little man is an epic puker. He takes medicine for it and still is like a fountain. He has also earned the nickname "exorcist baby". He will respond positively to a food for a while and then slowly will start falling into old patterns. We have tried 5 different formulas and the end result is always to same: It works for a few months and then he turns into a puke machine again. After getting puked on for the millionth time, I decided that we were switching to Blenderized Dieting.
What is BD? Basically we take whatever a normal eating kid would eat and blend it up and shove it down Spencer's feeding tube. I've been trying to feed him baby food through his tube a couple feeds a day for about a week and he had been doing great. Then I started doing all his feeds as blends of baby food throughout the day and still gave him his formula at night. Now we are all in.
I have a worksheet I am using to plan his meals. We are starting off at 1200 calories a day and see how little man does. We can adjust his calories as needed.
Today's blend, which will last 24 hours, consisted of the following:
2 cups of baby cereal
3 jars of baby meat (I was only supposed to do three ounces...ooops)
2 jars of mixed veggies
1 jar of peas
2 jars of bananas
2 cups of Enriched Rice Dream
4 TABLESPOONS (Was supposed to be TSP) of Olive Oil
Totaling out at about 1500 calories.
Tomorrow I will be giving him the correct amount of olive oil and meat. I will probably switch to whole grain cream of wheat because baby cereal is confusing...I ordered a blender too to start blending my own baby foods because otherwise it's going to get expensive....