Monday, January 12, 2009

Frustration is setting in....

OK, this is totally off the shop subject but this blog is about the kiddies too so here goes.
Nikolas is really not doing as well as he could on the commercial formulas (too much vomiting). We've tried almost all of them. Frankly I'm over it. I asked about putting him on a homemade blenderized formula-I mean asked like 4 different doc's of his. All of them are fine with it. (We started this back at the end of summer but then he had unexpected brain surgery a week in & we stopped.)
Now I start looking for recipes that a good quality blender can handle ('cause there is no way on earth I can afford a Vitamix). We are planning to continue to use Pediasure for the "milk/dairy" portion but that way he only gets 2 cans instead of 5. Plus when he ate more pureed foods and less formula he didn't get sick nearly as often. Like his pediatrician said-"we really aren't meant to survive on commercial formulas anyway".
All the doctors recommend using a nutritionist to be sure I'm not missing anything but also agree that if I'm still adding 2 cans of Pediasure we should be fine. The nutritionists at St. Vincent are waiting for me to give them the recipes but I'm just having a frustrating time finding any and my mind is not giving any great ideas either.
Since he's decided he likes to eat some orally I'm back to pureeing carrots, peas, green beans, asparagus (-which surprisingly he LOVES!), peaches, pears, apricots, sweet potatoes, spinach, mixed frozen berries and frozen strawberries. I give him whatever he'll eat orally then throw the rest into the blender and away we go. We also use V8 veggie juice and V8 fruit/veggie juices instead of just water to thin for the tube.
I've been told to try the Food Pyramid Gov't site for help but they can only tell me how many of each group to get. I already have that info.
There is a book called "Homemade Blended Formula Handbook" that I want to see. I'm more than willing to buy it but I want to see it first to be sure it's what I need. It's impossible to find that book USED! I've looked everywhere and got nothing. I can't find other recipes either. I know that I can use anything if I get a Vitamix but who can afford them really! They're over $450 each-it's a BLENDER for cryin' out loud.
I don't mind taking the time to do this but good grief they don't make it even close to easy to do.
(Can you tell I'm getting frustrated!?!) I used to blend food for both kids as babies but when they get older and need more meat it's difficult to get that fine enough, and I can't have an enormous volume to feed either. I suppose I'm back to the govt website to see what else besides peanut butter and tofu I can substitute for the needed nutrients. Grains are giving me fits too. Any Vegetarians-PLEASE help me out here!