Smiley

Natalie is always smiley, even when she's not feeling great. She's done pretty well the last two days, being sick. Yesterday she ate by mouth for two meals, but today she didn't want to take much by mouth, so I didn't try it a second time. I'm proud of her for doing so well with swallowing, even while sick. There is a huge difference in how she handles colds since she's started swallowing therapy. Before she started therapy 4 months ago, every cold had her coughing and gagging, which caused her to throw up her food. Now she can swallow most of the secretions she produces, so she's not gagging very much, so she doesn't throw up very much. What a relief...I have to admit that it was extremely depressing for me to be cleaning up after her 4-5 times a day, and then she would be sick for a long time. Praise God that she can handle being sick so much better...we still have to be careful and watchful in helping her get well, but she's contributing a lot to the process now.