Day One: Our Children's House at Baylor - Dallas

Facility: We miraculously made it through Dallas traffic and got to Our Children’s House at Baylor on time, checked in and M came to show us around the facility. OCH is a pediatric hospital with both outpatient and inpatient services emphasizing a team approach to care. We are part of the daytime intensive feeding program. There is a family area with a table, couch and nap room that is specifically for the feeding program families. There is a playground area up next to the front lobby, then a children’s playroom, and a small courtyard with a basketball hoop and some benches back closer to the feeding program area. Lining the hall are feeding/therapy rooms and there is a gym where occupational therapy takes place. The children’s playroom has a play kitchen with kitchen toys, a TV, and a book shelf of books that are accessible. There are bins and shelves of other toys but they are locked. Sometimes the room is staffed by a volunteer. She's a really sweet lady and took to ZZ right away. She showed us where a few puzzles were kept. ZZ really likes doing those. ZZ enjoyed all aspects of the play room but I think the locked toys made it disappointing for the parents. It’s hard to see something your child might enjoy but you can’t access. The nap area works great for ZZ. There is a crib which I pushed near some hooks that hold a mat which also works to hang his food bag and pump while he naps. We met 2 other families with children in the program. I don't want to be be too nosey but of course I'm so curious about how they do things and what they've been through with their children. It's so helpful to me to meet others in a similar situation as we are with ZZ.

Therapy sessions: I brought ZZ’s favorite foods for the first day (chips, salsa, grated cheese, and an apple). I also brought something he always wants to eat but never does ("Dora" yogurt). ZZ sat in the little chair with a tray for the first feeding session. At home he sits in a high chair but it is pushed up to the table and he can get down, he simply chooses not to usually because it's a social event for him. I think I might ask for the tray to be removed partway through the program. For the feeding session and then again for the OT, I placed the food in front of ZZ in an atempt to demonstrate how a meal would go at home. I tried to emphasize that at home, meals are a social experience for ZZ with at least his sister and I and at dinner the whole family are all there and so this one-on-one doesn't really happen ever. Next to ZZ's chair was a bookshelf full of toys and a monitor on the table in front. I also certainly don’t allow toys at the table so it wasn’t mimicking our situation at all. He was completely distracted by the toys and ate not one bite of what I put in front of him. Okay, well the not eating part is what it's like a home most times. ZZ also went to occupational therapy that first day and I tagged along. The gym is a place full of fun swings and mats. ZZ went straight for the tube swing and dove in head first. I think this will be his favorite part of eating school. The OT worked on some sensory therapies with him. She had him dig for toys in a bin of dried beans (he had done this with his speech therapist back home before and was fine with it), find something little I couldn't quite see in a towel (he seems to do fine) and then tried to get him to rub lotion on her hand (no way, but she did finally get him to touch it with one finger in order to play with a toy he wanted). I didn't watch speech therapy but she said she rubbed his mouth, lips and tongue with a nuk brush (sp?) and did mouth play with a rubber T-tube. She even put a bit of pureed food (squash I think) on the brush and he didn't mind. I do this sort of thing with his toothbrush at home so he's used to it and he has the T-tube toy that he chews on sometimes. His afternoon feeding sessions here done by a psychologist. Dry spoon and then water (he did fine). I told her he loves to pretend to eat so a dry spoon isn't much of a challenge. She said they were mostly establishing the reward system today and maybe they would try some food tomorrow.