More Food!

Lydia's dietitian visited today and Lydia weighed in at 21 pounds and measured 29 inches long!  We're going to change her meals to be less of the Compleat Pediatric formula and more real foods.  She's up to 1 cup of fruit, 1 cup of veggies, 3/4 cup of whole grains and 1 jar of baby food meat and gravy each day.  The amounts increased and the addition of whole grains is the biggest thing.  In December we'll add real meat!  

Things I learned while blending for Lydia tonight:

1. Over the course of the month this girl eats a lot of fruits, vegetables and grains...a lot.

2. I'm pretty sure my kid eats better than all of your kids. Granted she doesn't have a say in the matter and she tastes none of it.

3. Seriously better than all of us... Blueberries mangoes apples bananas peaches peas kale cauliflower squash zucchini spinach carrots whole wheat pasta quinoa barley oatmeal avocado oil.

4. After about 1.5 hrs of blending you can overheat your Blendtec. Put it in the refrigerator to cool off.

5. It only takes me 2 hours to blend 12 days worth of food and prepare and store for another 10 blends.

6. I have the best helper...with the best hair.

Run for LITTLE hearts 5K

It's time to join team Love4Lydia!

Support Miss Lydia, our CHD warrior and hero!

Last year Love4Lydia won the biggest team award with over 60 participants. Remember your coupon code for free registration this year and consider making a donation. Join us to make this year even better and raise funds for CHD kiddos and research!

Sunday, May 21st, 8:00am at Arrowhead Stadium.

SIGN UP FOR TEAM LOVE4LYDIA

http://runforlittlehearts.com/event-details/

A Week Without Lydia

I'm in Monterey, California for the Internet Librarian Conference and then some vacation time.  The weather and scenery is beautiful, the food is delicious, the bed is comfy and I'm enjoying a lot of alone time.  I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I slept 10 hours Sunday night and woke up with zero yawns.  Maybe I should do this more often to recharge?

I miss my baby girl and Dan.  I'll get to see Dan tomorrow when he flies out to vacation away the weekend.  I won't see Lydia until Sunday night, but I've been getting daily pictures from her nurse, Wylene, and Dan.  Here are some of those crazy hair photos and some of my Monterey beach walks.

 

  

Let's talk about food, shall we?

So, Lydia's is tube fed.  We all remember that.  Right?

Up until a couple of months ago, all she ate was formula.  At first it was Enfamil Gentlease, then it was Compleat Pediatric, a special whole food based formula made for tubies.

A couple of months ago we started to use less Compleat Pediatric and add baby food.  Lydia was eating a mix of Compleat Pediatric, baby fruits and vegetables, baby meat & gravy, baby oatmeal or cereal, and avocado oil and a dash of salt.

We are slowly transitioning to real food, all of it, no formula.

Here is where we are at:

Compleat Pediatric

REAL BLENDED FRUIT

REAL BLENDED VEGGIES

Avocado Oil

Salt

Baby Meat and Gravy

Baby Oatmeal or Cereal

I went a little crazy with the blending!  I have one month of prepared blended packets frozen for Lydia's daily tube feedings.  One packet includes everything but the Compleat Pediatric and oatmeal/cereal.  Next month when I do blends we'll cut the baby oatmeal/cereal and add REAL BIG PEOPLE FOOD - like pasta, rice, quinoa, bread, oatmeal, etc. 

Here are pictures of our daughter's fruit and veggie blending process.  I used kale, cauliflower, and carrots, bananas, mango and pears.  I'm learning what works best as far as fresh, frozen and canned, what needs to be cooked and blended, or cooked and frozen for later.  I've flash frozen fresh veggies that I can use later, like summer squash and zucchini.  I'm tossing ripe bananas in the freezer, now for Lydia instead of banana bread.  Grandma is freezing apples picked from Papa's apple trees this fall.  

It may seem silly, but it's all so exciting to me...she's eating real food!  I cannot wait until the formula is gone, but I have to pace myself and her.  October is a nutty month for us and I have all her food made.  In November we'll add the grains.  Maybe December will be the meat!