Feeding Update

I had drafted this post a few weeks ago in response to a request from a friend and blog follower for a feeding update. I don't have the strength right now to write about what else has happened in the past couple of weeks, so I'll focus on this one topic near and dear to my heart.

A few months ago, Eliza had started to eat small (post-it note size) peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cheese sandwiches. She had started to eat 2 inch square pieces of waffles, a few bites of pancakes, a bit of pizza crust and a quarter of a mini bagel with some butter. In the past month or so she has once again refused these. She has lost well over a pound in a month, has taken three times as long as previously to finish a "meal" and has dropped down a size in pants back to a 3 and has those tell tale dark circles under her eyes. She and I will see her doctor in the next couple of weeks to see what has to be done. Eliza knows if she doesn't eat she will need a tube in her stomach, and she says she does not want one, but it is still not enough incentive to try to eat.

Everyone I know whose child is Eliza's age (and some who are younger) and who had feeding issues has moved on down the road. Far, far, far down the road. They eat pizza, hot dogs, pasta, burgers, freaking Happy Meals, chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, rice, fish, soup and ice cream (Eliza no longer eats ice cream), just to name a few. Eliza will no longer eat cake or muffins and there are two brands of cookies she will eat (one of which I cannot buy in the US). An average "meal" is two saltine crackers and one slice of American cheese. Try that three times a day and see how you feel. She won't drink formula anymore, just milk. I suppose I should be thankful it is whole milk and I can add protein powder to it. I am tired of people telling me how awful it is that their child will only eat one brand of burger or only flavor of yogurt or only a half a slice of pizza or only style chicken nugget or brand of hot dog or some magical freaking smoothie. If Eliza ate one of these things, and only one of these things, I would breathe a sigh of relief. But she doesn't, so I cannot breathe that sigh.

I am not looking for sympathy or empathy or advice. I suppose though I am asking people not to call me and email me to complain about their frustration that their child only eats one kind of pizza/hot dog/vegetable/fruit/meat/yogurt/chicken nugget. I just can't listen to it right now. Maybe someday I can reclaim my role as the Dear Abby of feeding problems, but not now.