Learning to feed in the NICU

This little one is 5 days old....the speech therapist is illiciting a sucking reflex with his finger which has a little bit of milk on it. This helps to ease the infant into oral feeds (aka bottle feeds)...each time the infant does this the therapist tries to make sure the suck is rhythmical and tries to make the infant last longer with their suck before the tire. Pretty soon this little one will have a suck that is strong enough to feed using a syringe...and then hopefully move to a bottle. This infant is probably getting all of its nutrients through a feeding tube right now...eventually that will be taken out as the infant becomes more efficient on the bottle :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TSfWiGYwfM


This little one has graduated from the video above to syringe feeding with a finger...the finger is there for a couple reasons...1.) it slows down the flow of the liquid 2.) if the baby stops sucking the finger can move inside the mouth triggering a reflux that makes the baby suck again 3.) The finger can move rhythmical giving the baby a tactile cue so that they can regulate their suck into a rhythm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tfIVmKtcv0&feature=related

Barium Swallow Studies..aka...Xray of children swallowing

Below is a video of a little girl taking a bottle. What the speech therapist is looking for...is that she has a rhythmical swallow, that she is clearing the liquid (meaning that it isn't getting stuck in her pharynx...the tube leading the the tummy and the lungs), that there is no aspiration (aka the liquid goes down the esophagus to the stomach..not into the trachea and into the lungs), and they are checking general anatomical structures to make sure they are functioning correctly. The speech therapist may also be checking to make sure the child isn't refluxing (aka the liquid isn't coming back up once it is in her tummy..or in the pharynx). Watch closely..this child will aspirate towards the end of the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcjEyDtJYYY&feature=related


This little guy is having difficulty triggering his swallow (meaning the liquid is getting stuck in his mouth...or it is going into his pharynx without the swallow triggering which is causing the liquid to come back up and out his mouth)...he is continually holding the liquid and spitting it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7MV2C-MVZE&feature=related

This is just a video of a cute little baby getting a swallow study. I think they are trying to determine if he is safe for oral feeds (feeding through the mouth via bottle)...He is also trying towards the end to intitiate a suck...he is holding the nipple in his mouth but isn't sucking...this may be due to him needing more stimulation to get the suck going...and/or he is having trouble breathing..so he is choosing to breathe instead of swallow (which I would choose that too)...or he is having trouble establishing a rhythimical suck..he isn't getting into a groove of swallow, then breathe, then swallow, then breathe...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHlrKHg6awU&feature=related

If your child is going in for one of these evaluations. Expect the speech therapist to probably take you back with them...and give your child a liquid, a pureed, a solid...all covered in barium...the white stuff that helps the food to show up on the xray. Kids are actually usually okay with this procedure...it doesn't hurt....and the barium although it tastes "chalky" isn;'t really too bad :)

Ask your speech therapist before going to the evaluation if she would like you to bring the spoon you use at home, the sippy cup and/or bottle, the bowls you use, etc...sometimes speech therapists have you bring familiar tools...so that the child is more comfortable and so that they get a more accurate picture of what exactly is going on when the child is swallowing at home.

An Inspiring song...

I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying"You'll never reach it"
Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking
But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high
There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb
The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking
I may not know it
But these are the moments thatI'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going
And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on'
Cause there's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!
There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Somebody's gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!
Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, babyIt's all about, it's all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith!
By Miley Cyrus

I just think this song is a good reminder to keep our focus on God...and focus on "climbing" because its an "uphill battle" to continue to grow closer in relationship with Christ...we just have to keep going and keep the faith..God has a purpose for each one of us...We aren't always going to get what we think we want...but we will always get what God wants us to get...Sometimes life is full of struggles but we need to remember that God is a loving God and he never changes...he is the one thing in our lives that we can count on...

So keep climbing...keep focusing on God...keep praying that God be in charge of your life...lifes about "the climb"...its about keeping our focus on our ultimate goal...serving & loving God...our end goal should be eternity spent with him...