Feeding Issues

Still!? You ask.  Yes, and from my experience I don't think her oral aversion will be getting better anytime soon.  In my Food and Nutrition Lab the other day we did a Taste Test Lab. First we were taught about different tastes like sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami (savory or sweet and salty combined).  Taste are mostly environmental (what you grow up eating/are use to eating), but it can also be genetic.  So, Whitney, baby, I'm sorry but I'm a very picky eater so that probably doensn't help you much.   The teacher told us about it earlier and said that we don't have to eat anything if we're allergic or don't want to. I was thinking that I might, then I thought no, then I thought maybe I'll try it.  When the lab was explained to us I made up my mind...definitely not!  First I was concerned about germs and everyone double dipping and cross contaminating.  Plus this one chick was coughing everywhere and said that she's been sick!  Then just by the looks of what we had to do, I really didn't want any of that in my mouth.  So I asked a girl if I could help her and copy her answers.  Everyone else in the class did the whole lab!

First we my partner drank different types of milk and described them, then the cream cheeses.  They have different herby flavors like dill, thyme, oregano, and basil. When she opened I gaged with the smell and had to cover my nose.  Also my partner kind of double dipped.  Then she sampled cheeses and breads and just described what they tasted like. My partner gaged at the rye bread and almost made me want to throw up.
 We moved on to sweeteners.  My partner ate maple syrup, pancake syrup, corn syrup, honey, molasses, sugar, and artificial sweeteners.  Just looking at that all that sugar made me sick to my stomach. 
The we did an experiment to see how long it take to adapt to a taste.  So my partner put some salt water in her mouth and I timed it to see how long it would take for the taste to go away!  She was almost crying it was so nasty!  She held it in for almost 2 minutes!  I told her that she really didn't have to do this, and that she was brave. 
The worst one was where we had to us a nose plug and close our eyes to see if we could still taste food.  I dipped a cotton swab in the cup of stuff and gave it to my partner and she tried it to see if she could taste it.  She was able to taste all of them even though she couldn't smell it.  First I didn't want to put nasty cotton in my mouth.  And I really would have puked if I ate some one these foods.  The first one was chocolate syrup, then soy sauce, the third was tomatoes (GAG, never have and never will eat a raw or cut up tomato), the next was coffee (I don't drink and can't even stand the smell), and last to be tested was chicken gravy (room temp, nasty). 
Something about tasting papers, okay eww, that made everyone gag. By this point I was getting a headache, and I wasn't even trying anything!!
The last experiment was to determine at what strength one could taste a substance.  There was salt water, sucrose water, acidic water (lemon juice), tonic water, and MSG in water.  Again with the cotton swab/ Q-tip. 
So after suffering though that Taste Test Lab, I can definitely see why Whitney gets so anxious and scared around food.  I feel so bad for her.  I don't think I will reach my goal of weaning her off the tube/becoming an oral eater by December.  We could probably use more professional help.  I want to take it slow with her and not make her eating aversions worse by force feeding her.  I mean she does put food to her mouth.  Like today she put an apple in her mouth for a second, then put it on the floor.  The other day she actually took a couple bites of some "rubbery" turkey bacon.  I am trying my best to help her and keep her healthy.  She gained a whopping 7 ounces in two weeks!  We are trying a the medicine again called Bethenachol, that helps strengthen her lower esophageal sphincter.  So it is, has been, and will be a workin' progress. 
here are some videos about feeding issues by our local group called P.O.P.S.I.C.LE. (Parent Organized Partnerships Supporting Infants and Children Learning to Eat).