Monday, January 12, 2009

PediaBlah!

A PediaSure - Free Girl!

Needless to say, the PediaSure was not a hit! Lainey absolutely hates PediaSure ~ Strawberry and Vanilla. The first time I introduced the strawberry PediaSure, she drank it all. I was ecstatic, until the next feeding. She refused to open her mouth although I know she had to be starving. As a last resort I tried giving her Alimentum again...and that worked!





This weekend was horrible because I fought with her over every feeding, not to mention that Sid worked 6:30 am to 7:30 pm on both Saturday and Sunday. It also rained and the boys were wild! Lainey was extremely sleepy and somewhat lethargic, therefore I decided to stay put at the house. Can you say cabin fever? By Sunday afternoon I was sure someone in our house would be hurt if we did not have a break from each other! Thank goodness for Papa Dwight...he picked Logan up and took him to work in the motor home and then back to their house. It is amazing how well behaved Liam can be when he doesn't have an audience!





Gigi and Papa came over to eat chicken enchiladas with us on Sunday evening. Gigi worked her magic and was able to get Lainey to eat 4 oz of formula and eat a HUGE bowl of rice cereal! Gigi can always get people to eat...just look at Sid, Logan, Dayna, and I! Thanks to her, the four of us are always trying to watch our weight! Unfortunately, Liam wasn't letting her talk him into eating. He ate four cereal straws, a cup of Gold Fish crackers, and drank 5 cups of chocolate milk for the day. Lainey gladly shared her PediaSure with Liam and he drank about 4 oz. We are planning to continue giving Liam the PediaSure when he refuses to eat, especially since he has lost 5 + pounds since April! We really need to have him retested for CF, I just can't bring myself to torturing him again! I nominate Sid to take Liam for the bloodwork! :)





The CF doctor, Dr. Caplan, called today to check on Lainey. He was sure she would love the PediaSure, but since she didn't he adjusted her diet again. She is now drinking 27 calorie formula. She ate well today at Gigi's house, so hopefully she will continue eating. Her goal weight for our Friday CF visit is 17 lbs., but I know we won't even be close. We will be lucky if she weighs 16 lbs. since she has lost 4 + oz. in the past few days. If it were possible, I would gladly give her some of my hunger and weight!





Today Lainey received her 2nd flu shot. She has now completed her flu vaccination. On Wednesday she will get her Synagis shot. Friday we will go to the CF Center for her monthly checkup. My new insurnace company will not like us after Friday! The suggested pick of insurance was the HRA plan. The first $1750 of medical bills is paid out of our "pot" of money, then we have to pay $1250 until we meet our out of pocket deductible. Since Lainey has Medicaid as secondary insurance, I am assuming/hoping it will pick up the $1250 out of pocket portion. We will have met all of our deductibles and out of pocket expenses by Friday if not before then! The thing I am nervous about is what mom heard on tv today. She heard that some doctors can refuse HRA patients unless it is an emergency because the insurance company will only pay them at a very discounted rate. I am praying this is not the case since we will have met everything with only 16 days into this new insurance policy! Why do they have to make insurance so complicated? AHHHHH!





Hopefully the 27 calorie formula will fatten Lainey enough to at least reach 16 lbs. by Friday and that our new insurance will be the right choice for the kids and I this year. Please pray that all goes well with all the appointments this week. I know I can count my blessings if all I have to worry about with Lainey's CF is poop, eating, gaining weight, and insurance! There is so much we have to be thankful for!





With Lots of Love,


The Smithsons

3 comments:

Aspiemom said...

Thank you for visiting my blog and signing up to Follow. May I ask how you found me?

I see that you live in Gainesville, which isn't that far from me. My sister and her husband will be candidating at a church outside of Gainesville this coming weekend. I'd love to have them closer! (They live in IL - brrr!)

I'm so sorry for what you are going through with your daughter. I never dealt with it as a child since I have the Adult form, but I know if it very hard. I hope that she is feeling better soon and that you can get out a little bit more.

Unknown said...

I am glad you found my blog. I love talking to other parents of children with cf. I am sorry to read that your little girl is having problems with the weight gain. It's soooo hard....trust me..we've been there. My son was allergic to milk and eggs his first 4 years of life and it was difficult getting the weight on him. We struggle some still but he is doing pretty well with it. I look forward to "getting to know" you.
Carrie

Lil' Chris' Mom said...

Our dietician started my son out on 24 cal and then uped it to 27 cal. He seemed to do really well on it. His weight seems to be always in the 50 percentile. The dr says that's good.

If you ever have any questions for me, just let me know:)
M