Avery was born with severe acid reflux . In the hospital we tried and tried to feed her by mouth but it was a struggle. With a lot of hard work, patience , medication , weekly therapy determination , and motivation Avery is up to eating over 2 ounces by mouth. We started with as little as 5 mls. It’s been a marathon to say the least but our girl is definitely food motivated which is a huge win! 

She’s high risk for aspiration but we had a swallow study performed in the hospital and she was not doing so. Aspiration is when fluid can leak into your lungs or other places and cause choking. Avery also has a weak trunk but we have been working hard from day one on trunk work, head control, and her mouth muscles. 

We will get another swallow study in March to make sure she is still doing well and not aspirating. 

To help her mouth control , muscles, and gag reflux we use a tool called a z vibe. This helps lateralization of the tongue in turn helping her chew and manipulate movement of food in her mouth. Working those jaw muscles also will help with her speech. 

Today at feeding she tried some different foods and textures for more exposure to help with eating. She also hit a goal of toleration of the z vibe in her mouth for three minutes! The z vibe also is a tool that helps with the gag reflux and to get rid of that. Thus far this has gotten tremendously better with Avery. She will sometimes gag when getting full but she’s been able to manage it a lot more and she’s able to keep her food down and not throw up which she used to a lot before after a gag with eating. 

Today she got to try a lollipop to get her to move that tongue more and she sure did like it! 

#teamavery