Everyone that has followed our journey so far is already aware of the amazing progress we have made with Piper’s feeding. I am so proud of her and where we are at and I want to share it with you.

I am in still in awe of God’s faithfulness and his miracle healing power. I never could imagine we would be where we are at with Piper’s feeding right now and I can’t even imagine where we are going to go. Nothing is impossible with God. Our breakthrough is happening.

When I sit down and think of everything we have been through, what our family has endured and where we are now, I feel proud.

Piper spent nine straight months with her nasogastric (nose) tube in. She took nothing by mouth, except the dummy. She had the most severe reflux that saw us suctioning her anywhere from 20 – 40 times a day (no exaggeration). She couldn’t swallow what came back up, it burnt her as it came out her nose and mouth. She would choke, arch her back and scream in agony. Piper spent 20 hours of the day hooked up to a feeding pump as I spent every waking minute with my eyes glued to her and body never far away from her. Day in, day out we were so restricted.

At almost 10 months old Piper had surgery where a hole was made in her tummy and a feeding tube was inserted. We were able to trial tiny amounts of puree ‘taste testing’ by mouth. She would cough a lot and was still aspirating and then developed bronchiolitis a few times and we were hospitalized so we had to stop any food by mouth again.

At 12 months old she had another surgery to replace the tummy tube to a permanent one as the hole was now fully healed. She had her fifth swallow study which showed small amounts of puree were safe. So we began feeding therapy again. I knew it was going to be a long, long slow process. We would take three steps forward five steps back. How do you just learn how to swallow when your brain is telling you something else? She hadn’t had anything by mouth for over a year. At times it was a battle, and we questioned was it ever going to be won? We weren’t making any progress no matter how much therapy we had or methods we tried. It was defeating.

At 14 months old Piper was enjoying the taste tests but was still showing some signs of aspiration. It began so slowly. First, she started licking the lid of the food and showed actual signs of enjoying it. Then we gradually would try and give her more and more. At about 15 months old Piper just got it, no coughing, no gagging, just eating. SHE’S EATING. Fast forward to now (17 and a half months) She is eating three meals of puree a day, she’s only connected to the milk overnight. Her reflux has almost vanished. She’s eating big spoons full of puree, lots of it and enjoying all of them. We have victory!

To many this is not a huge deal, but to us, it is a miracle. My heart is so full of joy. Something I never imagined her being able to do. This is a massive victory and it’s a testimony to how amazing our God is. Our prayers are being answered, what we are declaring over her life is happening. Even though at times the pain and grief have been so crippling, I prayed with that pain and God’s strength carried me through and it has kept me going. To see the results is a victory I can’t really explain in words. BUT GOD, all things are possible.

Although this is only one small part of the issues that Piper has to deal with and we still do have a long way to go, for now we celebrate this huge victory and it’s all Glory to God.