It's Been a While...

It's been quite a while since I've posted anything here. I guess no news is good news. But in reality, it has been the craziness of our lives that has kept me from keeping everyone up to date on Jordan.

Jordan has been doing great and we love to see her adorable personality shine through in everything she does. Temper tantrums are occasionally entering into our world when Conner takes something away from her or plays with something that she wants to play with. The best sound in the world is the laughter that Conner can create in that little girl just by climbing in the portacrib with her!!

We have had the normal ear infections, colds and flu run through our house over the past couple months and so far, everyone except me has been sick at one point or another (thank you Airborne!!!) It was interesting to experience what happens when Jordan has the stomach flu with her feeding tube. I was able to experience what "wretching and gagging" was like and how to relieve the stomach when she is unable to throw up (due the the Nissen Fundoplication.)

The most exciting event happened on December 2nd. After lunch, I was cleaning up the kitchen and I saw Jordan was under the kitchen table with something in her mouth. I went to go see what it was, figuring Conner dropped some of his lunch and she was giving it a try. To my surprise, I found a nail in her mouth!!! I tried to get it out but the angle was bad so I laid her on her back and attempted to sweep her mouth to remove it. To my complete amazement, it completely disappeared!!! I looked in her mouth and it was gone!! I moved her and it wasn't on the floor under her!! I couldn't believe that my daughter that can't swallow, just swallowed a nail!!! The crazy part was that she acted completely normal...as though nothing had just happened!!!

Needless to say, after talking to the Dr. and getting a babysitter to our house for Conner, I headed to the ER. After checking her out and taking a few x-rays, they found the nail. It had passed through her Nissen without incident and was through her stomach at the beginning of her small intestine. They sent us home and we waited for it to pass. A few days later a follow-up x-ray showed that the nail was gone! Jordan had swallowed a nail and it passed without incident!! We were thrilled, but it has made us a little more cautious about what she might find around the house to put in her mouth. What we find most often is that she puts EVERYTHING in her mouth but NEVER swallows anything (unless mom forces it down her throat by sweeping her mouth!!! - I'm a little more careful about that now!)

Other than that, we had a wonderful Christmas! Jordan started walking while pushing a toy in early December and so we bought her a stroller walker with a doll and she loves to push it around the house!! She also learned to roll over from her back to her stomach! This is a milestone that has made feeding her on the floor more difficult. We normally have her strapped in her highchair now so she doesn't have any escape options! More and more we see the business of Conner in that little girl!

In just a few days, Jordan will be going back to Mary Free Bed for an oral motor evaluation and videofluroscopy. I am soooo excited to see if she is able to swallow. We will hopefully be starting oral feeding soon and getting her back into feeding therapy. Please pray that this evaluation goes well and that we are able to begin therapy with the same therapist that treated her last summer.

The biggest concern at this point is a lack of weight gain. Jordan was doing great for several months following her surgery and was up to 18 lbs 9 oz as of her appt on 10/30. I took her in last week and her weight was again 18lbs 9 oz. That's 2 months with no weight gain. In November, we transitioned her from 6-125 ml feedings to 5-150 ml feedings so we were no longer feeding her while she slept. However, 2 bouts with the flu and an ear infection have caused her to sleep much more and there were many days I was only able to fit 4 feedings in. I am feeling somewhat guilty for these missed feedings now that I see how significantly they affected her weight gain. Please pray that I am able to work 5 feedings in every day and that she begins to gain weight again.