Not your typical diet...

When most people think of the D-word they think of a conscious effort to eat healthier and in turn drop a few pounds.  Jadon is not in need of that.  He needs to gain weight.  Just as losing is hard for most of us, gaining seems equally hard for him.

Jadon is small. Like, less than the 3rd percentile.  We feel it would be great for him to be a little bigger before he undergoes cardiac surgery so we are trying to fatten him up a bit. 

Part of the problem is he is unable to swallow anything with chunks.  He chokes on anything that is not the consistency of pureed pumpkin soup.  No lumps whatsoever.  We are guessing this is related to his esophageal atresia that was fixed at two days old.  It is possible that he may need his esophagus dilated or stented.  Hopefully this will be addressed sooner than later.  But in reality, I am guessing it will take a number of months before there is anything done to address this issue.

So... we have resorted to trying to feed him as often as we can during his waking hours.  If we give him a lot at a time, he vomits.  So we continue with frequent, small portions, of infant cereals, yogurt and baby food jars made for babies that are the 4-6 months old.  At this point, we do not blend up our own food as our economy job blender does not puree small quantities to a fine enough consistency. 

Yesterday, Steph came home pleased.  He had found some high fat yogurt.  6% fat!  Maybe this will help!

Another thing that we think might help with weight gain is the good, old, Canadian winter!  In Vietnam, Jadon would sweat profusely with each feeding of his warm bottle.  The temperatures outdoors were humid and often above 30C.   Indoors, the temp was around 25C.   When we kept the indoor temp lower, the room felt chilly :)  In Canada, winter has arrived early.  Snow is scattered along the grass like a loosely woven blanket.  The house is heated, but only to temps around 21C.  This big drop in temp allows Jadon to drink his bottle without his hair and back completely soaking in sweat.  It was as if every bottle was a work-out while we were in Vietnam.  Now, Jadon has a few beads of perspiration on his forehead occasionally, but rarely soaks his hair or clothing with feedings.
Maybe, just maybe his weight will start to increase.

I might be just hopeful, but as I look at this pic taken on night one with Jadon, I think maybe he has gotten a teeny bit fuller in the cheeks.