A Vibrating Teether and An Electric Toothbrush

Sure, I was expecting the speech pathologist to give us homework so to speak.  And yes, I was expecting being shown new ways of feeding Ian to reteach him how to eat, but I did not expect quite as much to buy, use, and the desire to cry out of pure frustration as I have wanted to with in the last 48 hours or so.  And when the speech pathologist gave me a list of things to purchase from Babies'R'Us including a vibrating teether and an electric toothbrush to help with his gag reflects, I remembered my first thoughts were to the affect of "I have never heard of a vibrating teether?" "Do they really make such things as vibrating teethers?" "Do people really use electric toothbrushes on their infants and toddlers?" Oh and yes, I was also taken aback by the mesh feeder as well.  I had never seen or heard of that one before.


With all those items starting to loom in my mind and the thoughts of the daunting task of trying to plan the best time for me to get them entered my brain, I quickly started scanning through my loaded calendar and schedule that I had stored in my head. As I was doing so, I was not expecting to hear what would come out of her mouth next, which totally overwhelmed me from the moment she spoke it and demonstrated what she was expecting us to do. And in retrospect, obtaining and using those objects were going to be simple compared to the rest of what she was expecting us to do. 


Again, I was expecting Ian's feeding style to change some, but not quite to this degree.  She informed me that due to the fact that when Ian was an infant suffering from acid reflux, and in desperation to eat quickly to avoid as much pain as he was possibly able, Ian learned how to swallow wrong.  Instead of using his tongue laterally and with several bites, Ian uses his tongue to gulp down as much as he can in one swoop and he only chews using the front of his mouth.  In other words, he needed to learn how to use his tongue laterally by placing food to the side of his mouth, for which his food currently does not touch often.  To do so, she informed me that we could only give Ian pureed food for a week to two weeks--mostly she believed for two weeks.  Okay, do-able I thought to myself as I glanced over at Paisley and Ian who had started to pull everything out of my purse, until she continued on by saying that Ian was not even allowed to have any finger food at all; not even for snack.  NOT EVEN FOR SNACK!  She continued on with instructions and more as I continued to wonder how this was all going to shape up.  I knew tears were in Ian's future; wasn't expecting it in mine though.


Long story short, Ian has had two days of this new routine that will only last about 2 weeks mind you and when we finally get that one down, the speech pathologist is going to change it up again.  And on top of all that, we are already in the middle of trying to get our new school routines down with the girls' extra curricular activities as well.  I have to use a dropper and a small infant sized spoon (half full mind you) to feed Ian his pureed meals to the sides of his mouth.  What used to be simple, is now difficult.  For example, usually Ian will have a nutrigrain bar and some dried cereal for breakfast with an occasional yogurt, making running around getting everyone dressed easier.  Now his feeding times have doubled and sometimes tripled in size and he sometimes only gets half of what he normally eats.  It is long and tedious.  Ian begins screaming because he doesn't understand why he can't get his normal finger foods and why he is getting such small amounts of food at a time.  I also have to spoon feed his snacks as he is seated.  Essentially, no more Cheerios in a bowl in the livingroom. 


By the time feeding time is over, Ian is crying and has tears running down his face and all I want to do is join him.  He cries for his normal foods when he sees them and points; even if it is when I am opening a cabinet door.  Telling a 1-year-old that to help with your GI problems you have to relearn how to eat is just not going to happen or go over well.  To say this is frustrating is an under statement.  Ian and I are extremely overwhelmed.  We have ended each meal today basically with near emotional breakdowns in each others arms.  All he wants me to do is hold him in my arms and all I want to do is hold him after a mealtime.  I have wanted to cry several times today when he looks at me like he is being punished or gypped.  I get a lump in my throat.  And this doesn't include the vibrating teethers that he needs to use periodically through out the day and his electric toothbrush that I have to use on him 4 to 6 times a day for 2 minutes each time.


Please pray for us and for Little Man.  I know that God is using even this.  And although Little Man can't seem to get a break in the sense it always seems to be something he has to deal with and suffer through, I know that God is teaching and molding me.  I am learning about patience and how to put my emotions aside and bless another who is low; and I also honestly believe that God is preparing me for the future and the choices we have made as a family and as a couple.  God is indeed good; but we could always use some prayers too! ;-)  Please pray that Ian gets this lateral tongue movement down and he can work himself to finger foods sooner.  And most importantly, that he catches on to this and that it helps him with his gagging and vomiting issues.  Thank you so much!