Birthday Cake

[WildGreenGurl]

I have a question.....my daughter is going to be one years old this
Saturday and since we haven't started any treatments with her as we
are waiting to get her into the CF Clinic and so far I only give
her cereal at night, we were wondering about giving her a small
piece of her birthday cake.........is this a good/bad idea??<br>
<br>
http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=<a href=
"http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=3da3c29df0e3730dc6e6b">3da3c29df0e3730dc6e6b</a>

 

[julie]

Only cereal at night for a 12 month old????? Does she get any baby food/yogurt throughout the day or is she on formula/breast milk still? I just ask because that just doesn't seem much to a childs diet, especially one with CF. But every child/family is differnt-plus, I'm not even a mother yet so what do I know <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

Birthday cake would not hurt her at all, definately go for it. As one with CF gets older, there is a need to watch for fluctuation in blood sugars (my husband for example, started having some blood sugar problems last year. He is borderline diabetic and just has to watch what he eats...) but it is my understanding that it doesn't hit infants/young children with CF but usually develops in the teen/young adult and even older adult years.

Is there a specific reason of why you would be concerned with the birthday cake (swallowing problems, aspirating...)? because if so, that might help us better answer the question. But all things being equal, if she isn't having any problems that have to do with blood sugar or swallowing... LET HER DIVE IN THAT CAKE!!!! (and post some pictures on here if you can!)

Happy birthday to her.

 

[Allie]

I also have trouble seeing why you wouldn't give her cake? On Ahava's first, we made her her own cake to dive into ! lol. I say go ahead.

 

[julie]

BTW... VERY VERY cute little girl, and very nice video! I didn't realize it was a link to something unti just now (it is 1:30am something and I can't sleep <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">). Very cute!

Still stand my ground on the cake though, unless she still has some complications because of the prematurity, but even then, it would depend. Dive in <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

 

[LisaV]

I vote for small piece of reular cake if it is at all p;ossible.
My husband was alleric to the world as a kid. They always made him what he called "fake cakes" when he was young. He felt cheated.
He abolustely remembered his first "real" cake as the bigest deal in the world.

Now it's true at 1 that she might not remember anything and it doesn't matter to her at all. Even so if you're makin cake for everyone else at least (if you can) let her have a little bite alon with everyone else. It will keep her from starting off life as "different".

 

[eli]

I agree with Julie and Allie, let her DIVE INTO THAT CAKE.

I also am a bit concerned that she is only havnig cereal at night, especially the fact that she has CF. My daughter is now 16mnths and was also born premmie and only weighed 2pounds, i began introducing her to solids (cereal) at 5mnths of age. She loved it and it heleped her gain weight easier.
Although your not giving her much solids she looks alot bigger than what my daughter did at 12months, by the way she is an addorable little thing.

Also hope she has a wonderful 1'st Birthday<img src="i/expressions/present.gif" border="0">and many many many more to come.

 

[anonymous]

All five of our kids were on about anything they wanted, cereal at not later than 10 days old, 1st birthday cake they ate a big piece by themselves. Feed the kid............I never understand why these doctors tell parents not to feed the kids, could you live on milk and cereal alone?? Crazy, don't mean to make you mad, just drives me nuts when a child is not being fed.

 

[anonymous]

We were told when DS was 6 months old to feed him whatever he wants, just grind up whatever we're eating and feed it to him 'cuz most baby food is so low in fat and sodium. We did that, but there were also baby foods he liked -- meats, mac & cheese oatmeal, fruits and veggies and we'd add butter and salt to those. He was still on formula, but we'd also added some cream to that, got him whole milk yogurt..

DS is an odd child -- he couldn't have cared less about his birthday cake -- except last year and only because of the "FIRE" (candles)

Is your child on enzymes? Is there a reason they haven't started treatment? And why can't you get into a cf clinic yet?

Liza aka ratatosk

 

[imondeck]

Amber is a doll baby! As long as your daughter has no problems with swallowing, I see no problem in letting her have her own cake (most likely she will play in it more than eat it).

I couldn't help but notice the dirtbikes. Where are you all from and what races does your hubby hit (AMA, NMA, GNC, locals)? My 14 year old is an avid racer.

Happy Bday to your daughter this weekend!

 

[Abby]

Amber is beautiful and looks like a very happy baby. What is the reason she hasn't been given solids yet? Have the doctors told you no solids? It's very difficult to get all the nutrients cf babies need at this age with only formula and cereal. I considered dd a late starter on solids (6 months) but it was because we had to get her reflux under control and a few other concerns. At one year old she was eating pretty much anything she wanted. Oreo cookies were her favorite.

Let her have some fun with the birthday cake!!

 

[anonymous]

Yes of course my daughter gets formula during the day....I just meant as far as solid food she only gets cereal and that is at night. We have been told by her doctor not to start her on foods until she gets into the CF clinic and we see the dietician....so no I am not starving my child!!!!!

 

[Ratatosk]

Hopefully you can get into a CF clinic ASAP. The first year is when children do a LOT of growing and they need nutritents for adequate brain growth as well as physical growth. Also, if your child is pancreatic insufficient and needs digestive enzymes -- she may not be getting enough nutrition from her formula -- could just be going right thru her. I encourage you to PUSH to get your child to the CF clinic.

Liza

 

[Abby]

I don't think any of us meant to imply that you are not feeding Amber, I think we are all just a little surprised that she's not getting solid foods yet. I apologize if that is how my reply above came across.

Have you contacted your closest CF care center to make an appointment or is your pediatricians office handling it. I would definitely stress to them that she needs to be seen right away and it can't hurt to call and make the appointment yourself if your insurance allows that. When my daughter was diagnosed, it was only a matter of days that we were seen at the cf clinic so I don't understand why she hasn't seen a cf doctor yet if she was diagnosed in February.

Again, I'm sorry if I offended you in my earlier post, it's just that we as cf parents know what can happen if proper treatments, diet requirements, enzymes if required, are withheld.

 

[WildGreenGurl]

We are going to a really good Dr who is pushing for a lot for
us....one thing against us is because she is so young and
small.....we had to take her to the hospital lab to get blood drawn
and such but we found out about the CF by a sweat test that was
done this Feb and we need a second sweat test before getting into
the clinic. We've already tried to get another test but they
couldn't get enough sweat.....its been a roller coaster of appts
and such......I was just getting ready to go back to work but have
put that on hold for now.......I didn't mean to sound so sensitive,
we just don't know about anything regarding Amber except for we do
have her nebulizer ready to go if she needs breathing treatment and
even then I had to fight to get her little fish mask, they expected
her to use a tube.....crazy!!!

 

[anonymous]

I would definatley be pushing, pushing, pushing for the CF doctor. I may be wrong but our son has been on 4 breathing treatments a day since birth and he is now 5. This concerns me that she is not doing any! I hope you get in soon, our son doesn't just do them when just sick, he does them to keep healthy. Plus she may need enzymes. Good luck and she is a cutie.

 

[Ratatosk]

I use a tube for regular nebs and the fish mask -- got some freebies from the respiratory therapists --- Also picked up a fishy mask when I reordered filters for the nebulizer -- the mask only cost a few dollars. The beauty of CF clinics -- bags and bags of free neb cups -- last week I got a six month supply of vitamins... Now if I could just get free oral syringes -- I had to order from the Squirrel Store <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

I didn't mean to be critical. It was just kinda shocking that a diagnosis was made and then you're left hanging, waiting to start treatment. DS was diagnosed when he was less than a week old and he was at a CF hospital at the time; however, a friend of mine's granddaughter was diagnosed a couple hours north of here via a sweat test and she was referred to U of MN the following week. She was diagnosed at 1 1/2 years and has spent the past year or so playing catch up --- trying to regain weight, clear up infections. I was just concerned your doctors weren't taking this seriously and treating her CF asap.

Liza mom to a 2 1/2 year old wcf

 

[Abby]

Why do they have to do another sweat test before she can be seen at a cf clinic? The clinic will have one done and a genetic test to see which genes she has.

I'm sorry to be asking all these questions, it just seems as if you are getting the run around when all you want is answers and information so you can properly take care of Amber. Keep pushing your doctor and like I said earlier, you may want to contact the cf center directly. Let them know she's had one positive sweat test. I couldn't tell from the pictures and I know she's a preemie, but is she failure to thrive, how are her stools, do her lungs sound congested, does she have trouble breathing? These are all signs that she needs to be seen by cf doctors immediately to prevent any further damage.

Please keep us posted

 

[thelizardqueen]

All I can say is that there isn't a such thing as a false positive, but there is a such thing as a false negative. The fact that she's tested positive means that she does in fact have CF, so I'm not sure why an accredited centre would need a second one done. I'm in agreement with Abby - get a hold of the CF centre yourself. It sounds like you're getting quite the runaround. You should have her in right away if she's been diagnosed already. The sooner she starts treatment, the better she will be. Keep us posted!

 

[anonymous]

Your daughter is beautiful! What a blessing she is. With both of my daughters (who both have CF) they had their own little birthday cake to dig into. Neither one wanted to get their hands all dirty, so we had to help them out a little for the sake of cute first birthday pictures<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> Unless she is allergic to something, there wouldn't be any harm in letting her dig in. I am surprised too, that your pediatrician hasn't started her on baby fruits and vegies at least. I am sure they have their reasons. Both my girls were eating noodles, bananas, breads, mashed potatoes and other vegies at one. But neither one of my girls started out as premies, so I am not sure about what the procedures are for starting solids in one that early. I would definately try to get into the CF clinic ASAP. She is in an incredible critical developmental period! My first one wasn't diagnosed until she was 14 months, and looking back at pictures of her prior to then, she looked so pale and sickly. I just didn't know any better because she was my first child. I just thought she was petite and pale skinned<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> She was malnorished and starving. I felt like such a bad mommy<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif" border="0"> It took a while to catch her back up, but now she is 8 and doing great! Good luck and enjoy the moment on Saturday.

 

[skh]

What a beautiful little girl you have! I would definitely let her have some birthday cake. She is going to love it!! Happy Birthday, Amber!