OT: Week 7, Haberman

There isn’t really any news this week, but at least that means there’s no bad news. We introduced carrots and fortunately Averi likes them. I forgot how bad they stain though, and she had an orange face several days this week. :)

As far as our OT session went, I have three words: Haberman Feeder…Finally! At last we were able to get our hands on one. This is a special feeding system that allows milk to be expressed by sucking or chewing (Averi’s preference) and has three different flow rates. There is a valve inside it that doesn’t allow milk to flow through it unless Averi has gotten some out, which prevents her from getting choked up.

Because of the way the nipple works, however, we can’t use the thickened milk so we have to use regular milk on the slowest setting. Hopefully this will allow her to get used to swallowing thin liquids without feeling overwhelmed.

Francis used it to feed Averi during the OT session and she took the usual 20 mls that she takes of the thickened milk with a slit nipple. She said to stop using the thickened milk and just focus on the Haberman this week. Even if she isn’t taking any more than before, it will be really good for her to get used to the thin liquids, since that is our ultimate goal.

As I was getting ready to leave, Francis gave me the write up from the PT evaluation she did last week. A score of 6-7 is below average and Averi scored a 1 on gross motor skills (sitting up, rolling over, etc.). I’d say that should be enough to get someone’s attention to make a referral.

I also asked Francis what we have to do to continue getting OT since we were only approved for 8 weeks. She said that she is the one who decides when we are done and that obviously we are not so we can just keep coming. She then called me later today and told me that while she was filling out paper work she noticed that our insurance does not cover Occupational Therapy. At $250 a session, that is a concern. I will definitely be contacting our insurance to work out the details.