Food - Ups and Downs

A week after Wesley started eating Spaghetti-O's and other Chef Boyardee canned pastas, he decided that it was time to start refusing all baby food.  The problem with this was that he simply could not live on Chef Boyardee for three meals a day indefinitely.

We prayed that God would help Wesley start eating more table foods, and I prepared fruits and vegetables to bring to his next feeding therapy session.  Unfortunately, that therapy session was a complete disaster.  Wesley refused the steamed and mushy vegetables, the oatmeal, drinking out of an open cup, and even the apple sauce.  Needless to say, I left the therapy session very discouraged.  At subsequent therapy sessions, he also refused small pieces of banana and slices of american cheese.

Thankfully though, that is not the end of the story.  God has graciously answered our prayers for Wesley to start eating again, although not in the way that we had thought best.  Wesley has begun to eat his baby food again.  While it is disappointing to still be feeding him baby food, we are so very thankful that the Lord is continuing to faithfully provide for all of Wesley's needs.  Just as God cares for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, so He also lovingly cares for Wesley, providing him with all the nutrition that he needs.

Wesley's feeding therapist has been working extra hard to help us introduce new foods to Wesley, but she added to our disappointment by explaining that with Wesley's low tone, difficulty chewing and new gag reflex, it will probably be a long time before he is able to eat fruits and vegetables.  It is much easier for him to eat overcooked or soft pastas and meats that only require one or two chews before swallowing.  Fruits and vegetables, on the other hand, require much more chewing before they are swallowed.  We have also learned that Wesley cannot tolerate foods that are sticky, such as mashed potatoes or hummus.  He has a very high palate, and as soon as his tongue pushes these foods up into his palate, he gags and throws up.

Despite these setbacks, Wesley has started to show an interest in more foods.  He will now eat quesadillas and guacamole.  He also regularly eats slices of thin crust pizza.  He even surprised us this weekend when he ate a slice of hand-tossed Pizza Hut pizza.  In the past he would have spit out the bread as soon as he realized it would require more work to eat, but this time he chewed it!  He also tolerates Cream of Wheat, as long as I mix it with a generous helping of apple sauce or other baby food fruits.  I do have to be careful of this, though, as I often watch his gag reflex start to kick in. On Monday at therapy he ate a few carrots and green beans from a can of minestrone soup (of course he also gagged and threw up when his therapist offered him a kidney bean).  We are praying that this will be the beginning of an introduction of vegetables for him.

Wesley continues to love his Chef Boyardee foods, now eating their Spaghetti-O's & meatballs, ravioli & meatballs, and mac & cheese.  He even permitted a variation when I made Kraft macaroni and cheese with soy milk (gross, I know!).

He seems to prefer salty and savory foods to sweet foods, which means he often refuses graham crackers or animal crackers, knowing that after a while I will give up and give him his veggie straws, pretzels, or goldfish.  He also now eats crackers with peanut butter on them, which have been an excellent source of fat and protein for him.

So despite our setbacks, we have been encouraged overall these past few weeks as we have watched God work in our little boy's life.  We continue to pray that he will accept more foods and more textures, but we rejoice at the strides that he is making.