P is for....

If you have been a parent at all, you likely have realized that the topic of pooping comes up regularly all of a sudden.  For some reason, this is even more true for children with tubes.  For our family, it is because low muscle tone means slower moving food, means higher incidents of constipation.  Some families are dealing with slow motility, and a myriad of other things that can affect a child's bowel habits.
We weren't interested in the normal regimen of miralax.  I felt like it was offered the moment she set foot in the clinic for Down syndrome, because it was assumed she would have trouble.  While we aren't opposed to medicine at our house, and believe there are instances where it is necessary  we like to try for natural before we jump into a prescription.  And, there are lots of things that can be given in a blenderized diet to help with constipation.
First of all, a great helper is P fruits.  Think of fruits that start with P's, and go with them.  Plums, peaches, pears, and pineapple are all great.  We really love prunes in our blends as well.  Some other fruits that work well for us are grapes, raisins, avocado  and apricots have also worked well for us.  Most fruits contain natural fiber, and therefore are helpful in easing constipation.  Green veggies are also helpful.  We use apples and bananas sparingly because we have found them to cause more issues with constipation.
Grains are also a great helper to keep things moving.  Whole grains of any sort tend to help.  We are personally big fans of flax seed (you can buy flax meal, or grind the seeds into meal before adding to a blend), quinoa, and buckwheat (breads made with buckwheat, or cream of buckwheat both work for us).  We are a gluten free family, so I don't have experience with this, but I also have heart that oats are helpful as well.
Making certain that a lot of water is being added is important as well.  We do a water bolus before a meal, a flush after meals, and large bolus first thing in the morning, and at bedtime.  Water should not affect the amounts that can be given at meal times.  Water is absorbed instead of digested.  It takes the body between 10-30 minutes to absorb water.  So if you are still nervous about the water affecting how much you might be able to feed, make certain it is given at least thirty minutes before mealtime.  We have found, though, that the closer to mealtimes it is, the more it help prevent constipation.
Some people add oils to the blend, or give them directly through a g-tube as well.  We have done this in the past, and I'm not opposed to it.  It did not make a huge difference for us.  So you may have to play around with things to see what works best.  Also, things that are warm digest better.  So if you are giving free fluids of any sort, warm them up a bit, make certain the blends are warmed as well.
And lastly, my personal favorites, breast milk (if you have any available to you) keeps things regular for our Beauty all the time.  When we don't have any available to us, coconut water for the win.  If you have ever seen the movie 'Cast Away' you may remember Tom Hanks making a reference to the coconuts being a laxative.  While it doesn't quite have that extreme of an affect here, We do like to give her a couple of ounces each day, warmed up a bit, and it keeps things moving quickly.  You can get different flavors, brands, so on and so forth.  We don't have any particular favorites.  My only requirement, is that, when reading the label, it not have added sugar of any sort.  There are a few we like that have fruit purees in with them.  One brand has one that is coconut water with coconut and pineapple puree.  If there's anything not moving through, this particular one will clear things out in no time.

What about you?  Do you have anything you have found, when added to blends, helps keep bowels moving well?

Our morning blend.

While most of our meals are varied, breakfast at our house is the same almost every day.  For everyone.  It helps me get through the mornings since I am often foggy and tired.  However, our breakfast always seems to be a great start for our beauty, full of protein, as well as things that help keep her gut healthy and moving.
In the blend every morning:
We get donated breast milk that we use most of the time.  If we are out we use whole milk.  For the sake of  calories, and helping you count, I will go with the whole milk.  If you are interested in knowing numbers for breast milk, I would be more than happy to share what I have learned.

2 oz.milk-37 calories
2oz. plain, whole milk yogurt-40 calories
1/3dry quinoa flakes mixed with hot water-131 calories
1 serving of prunes-100 calories

I put the liquid in first (milk) as well as yogurt, followed by quinoa, and then the prunes.  I hit the soup button on my blendtec, and ninety seconds later, everything is pureed, and warmed (an awesome bonus to the soup option on my blender).  Our beauty gets around six ounces of breakfast from this mix, and is now set to make it a few hours with 308 calories from her mix, a great dose of protein from the quinoa, good bacteria from the yogurt, and a great source of fiber to keep things moving from the prunes.  There are things that could be added to this to very easily up the calories (a tablespoon of coconut oil would take you up to 428 calories).
What do you blend for breakfast?  Are you more adventurous than me?

More calories, less volume.

Everywhere around me I see things advertising less calories in food items.  Who knew that some day I would have children that made me work hard to get every calorie possible in them.  (My oldest daughter has had trouble with growing since around her first birthday).  I have learned how to boost calories, without filling her full of empty calories.
Empty calories=food/drinks that make you feel full, but offer little nutritional value in the way of vitamins and minerals your body needs.  Juice, sugar, lots of fast food, soda, and the list goes on.  All of these things make you feel full at the moment, but not full of the things that you need.
I now have a list of things that are full of calories and healthy fats.  The challenge that the blenderized diet adds, is that lots of people need to boost calories without adding much volume.
So I'll make a list, and if you want to add to it, feel free to comment, sharing things you use.

*Dried fruit-grapes, prunes, craisins, blueberries, and so on. 1/4c. is around 100 calories (and our blender pulverizes them, no problem).  They are also great for constipation.
*Oils/butter-you can cook with them (I use olive, coconut, or real butter, not margarine).  You can also add them straight to the blender if your child tolerates.  1 tablespoon of coconut oil or olive oil has 120 calories in it. 1 tablespoon of butter has 102 calories.
* Avocado (or avocado oil).  1/4c puree is around 100 calories.  The oil is the same as olive and coconut-1 tbsp is 120 calories.
*Nut butters.  1 tbsp sunflower seed butter-96 calories.  1 tbsp (Jif creamy) peanut butter is 95 calories. 1 tbsp cashew butter is 94 calories.  1 tablespoon almond butter is 101 calories.
*Heavy whipping cream.  1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream is 52 calories.
*Chicken broth. While it isn't loaded with calories, if you use it in place of water for blending, it does add a few.  Most brands, 1 cup is around 10 calories.
*Quinoa. (I could do a whole post on how amazing this stuff is).  Uncooked, 1/4 c is around 157 calories.  If you cook it in something like chicken broth, and add some butter or oil to it, you are packing in calories like almost no other food can give.  It's also very good for you, and a complete source of protein.
*Cheese.  The numbers vary depending on the type of cheese you choose.  However, 1 oz. of colby jack is 110 calories.
*Maple syrup.  1 tablespoon is 52 calories.  It also contains iron, calcium, and can help with constipation!

Please, help me add to this list, if you know of more things.  We don't have to add calories at this point because our beauty is growing really well.  But there are lots of families looking for ways to boost their blends without adding any volume.