MORE TIME

Today was a good day. Phew! We met with the Occupational Therapist this morning at Ava's 10am feeding to see if she actually had a pathological eating issue or if she was just immature. Her mouth was examined and then we fed her a bottle. Another bottling system was introduced and she hated it. So, we stuck to the one she has been using. The frustrating part about the ones we are using (and I am pretty sure this is the case with any brand) is that some of them can be defective. So, some might flow faster or slower than others. It would be really nice for them to be consistent, but oh well. So, the consensus was, Ava just needs more time. She did really well over night with one very very minor choke. I fed her this afternoon and she had no problems at all. Our goal is to get her through the night with no issues. We are just going to play it by ear as to when she can come home. I am guessing it won't be too long. When normal full-term babies eat, they do suck-swallow-breathe, and repeat. Ava, at this point, does suck-suck-suck, breathe, breathe, breathe. In the next three weeks, she will eventually get to the point where she is doing it the "correct" way, it is just a matter of getting to that point. It will be quite the marathon for us, but again, we have done this before. We will eventually look back and think this was no big deal. But, as you live it, it is quite stressful. A good family friend always says, "this is temporary", and he is right!