Grocery list

this crazy ass list
a sign of desperation
or sign of progress?

In our desperation for Ike-a-saurus to gain weight, I've put together an impressive grocery list. If I wasn't so tired, I'd hit the store tonight. Alas, I might make it tomorrow. Though I'm sure I'll be just as tired then, too.

Here's the list. It kind of looks like I'm planning a diarrhea party:

salmon paste (or similar)
pork rinds
strawberry pediasure
Gerber graduates yogurt melts
Other freeze-dried food (astronaut ice cream? enchiladas?)

Now that I think of it, I probably should have just taken a picture of the list, so that you could experience it's full WTF-ness.

It's no holds barred over here, folks. Take no prisoners. Balls to the wall. Once we managed to get Ike-a-saurus to eat a tiny tiny bit of solid food with only a few gags, his nurse and I were like, "QUICK. WE NEED MEXICAN CHICARRONES. FROM MEXICO. STAT."

High fat and strong flavor. That's what we're searching for. Apparently, we're also attempting to increase his sodium intake by 95,000%. Not sure what the plan is there. Having the trach, though, means strong flavors are more appealing. At least this is what I've heard from other mamas with trached kids. Because he's barely using his nose, if at all, his sense of smell and taste are probably impaired. Trached kids are known for loving really strong tastes and ignoring sweets. Most of the food we feed this little guy right now is of the sweet variety. Breast milk, Pediasure, and that's about it. He was rocking the Greek yogurt for a while, but he also threw it up a lot and now he won't touch the stuff.

I put two Goya stuffed green olives in his mesh feeder thing, and yowza. His eyes did a zoinks! doubletake and then he was chowing down. He still can't manage the olives on their own, though, he really has to have things that will dissolve in his mouth. Even things like Pirate's Booty or Cheerios are difficult for him because they break into so many pieces in his mouth. Plus, they lack the fat and calories he needs.

He's doing well with these Gerber yogurt things because they just get smaller and smaller in his mouth and he can easily pull them out to take a break if it's too much. I noticed they're freeze-dried, which is what makes me wonder if other freeze-dried food with shrink in your mouth, too? Some freeze-dried enchiladas for camping will have a good amount of fat in them. But again, the sodium is probably hideous.

I'm not trying to replace his regular caloric intake with solids yet. He's far from ready. But I love that he's interested in food and wants to take bites and try things. It's heart-breaking, though, when those bites end in severe gagging and throwing up. Not to mention the risk of him aspirating the vomit and coming down with aspiration pneumonia.

It's a tricky business, feeding this little guy. But if I can find some fattening snacks that will dissolve in his mouth, I am all over it. It will encourage him to keep being interested in food, and it will add to his daily caloric intake.

I'm going to play the Rocky theme song when I whip out the salmon paste. This may be an occasion for haikuoftheday's first vlog.

13 thoughts on “Grocery list

  1. That list most assuredly calls for a midnight run! I always love seeing the combos purchased at HEB late at night.
    Strong taste. Throw some anchovies in there too. I’ve got a good antipasta recipe that my grandfather used to make – it’s got olives, anchovies, salami, roasted peppers and olive oil, all mixed together. Might be perfect for the little lad.


  2. Have you tried choclate yet? it melts in the mouth, it was one of Eric’s main stays, along with pudding, banana and choclate were his favorites, pumpkin pie w/whip creme. mac and cheese, before the g-tube we aimed for 65 cal per kilo so I can be a good resource if you need one. Deserts and cheesey dishes have the most cals. don’t forget cheese cake, it has eggs,milk, cheese and grains, it can be a main dish. don’t forget pb, oil, butter and creme cheese to add cals.
    right now were are stable at 1600 cals a day, now that he has stopped growing we can go for 46 cal per kilo, it is so much easier.


  3. on a good day we make 1000 calories. that doesn’t happen often!
    this post is cool 🙂 i often have “must search out every high calorie food that i haven’t thought of yet” trips to the supermarket every month of so.
    olives!! he has great taste already.


  4. can you dip things that are easy to dissolve, like mum-mums, into semi-melted butter? mum-mums wouldn’t dissolve upon touching the butter, so they would make it into his mouth. i’m thinking the melted butter sauce like the kind that comes with a pizza and has 8000 calories. ike might like dipping too.


  5. We fattened up our preemie on homemade cheesecakes. We were desperate to find something fattening that was similar to breast milk. Cheesecakes freeze really well, are easy to bake, have lots of fat and a fair bit of protein. I would bake up a batch of cheesecake, cut them into serving sizes and freeze them. Then we’d just thaw what we needed overnight. They would also be really easy to flavor heavily. Our babe wasn’t didn’t have a trach, do I don’t know how that part would work… but I’d be happy to send you our recipe if you wanted it.


  6. That’s quite the list! Good luck fattening up the little dude. My kids love those Yogurt Melts. FYI, I *think* Happy Baby came out with their own version that are not quite as expensive as the Gerber ones. Also what about cream cheese thinned out and whipped with whatever strong stuff suits his fancy?


  7. Since he seems to like olives, you could try tapenade (basically an olive spread), possibly food processed to make it smoother if it’s chunky. I see it at supermarkets lately (probably wherever they keep pesto), and my nephew for some reason loved it at around the same age.


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