As many of you know, Rachel had severe feeding issues when we first got her. She was almost over 2 years old and had never had solid food. She didn't know how to use those muscles and had a huge fear of putting anything in her mouth. She ate nothing... not even a grain of rice. Rachel would let you spread some substances on her lips, but she didn't know how to stick out her tongue and lick it off. Once we thought she had tried to lick some chocolate, but we soon discovered that it was an accident. She was not able to move her tongue on purpose. She just happened to do it that once and couldn't do it again.
My sister-in-law put a grain (ONE grain)of rice in her mouth and she tried to claw it out of her mouth. She didn't eat pudding, fruit... nothing! The lack of variety in her diet led to all kinds of digestive troubles. Rachel had to see the doctor before we even left China. She saw the pediatrician and went to speech therapy for 5 months. Speech therapy was not to help her learn how to speak, but to learn how to eat. Rachel literally did not know how to use her muscles. It wasn't just a matter of giving her food and she would eat. Everyone suggested ice-cream, treats, sweets, and many other things. Yes, we tried it all.
She came home on May 31st and ate pudding in July. She took a bite in September and started to eat by the end of September. We have dealt with her hoarding food, crying for food, stuffing her mouth, and eating until she is sick. This past December, she left a little food on her plate for the first time!
I could go on and on about the trouble Rachel had due to the lack of proper nutrition in China. When we returned, I tried contacting a few groups to see if they would start foster care or nutrition training at her orphanage for the children left behind. The best answer I got was that one of the groups was already monitoring some medical conditions and might get involved someday.
Fast forward to this week. Alivia's mom, Brenda is also trying to get the ball rolling. Perhaps with more than one parent raising the "red flag" they will investigate. I am happy to say that she has some results. We hope to have Wanzhou become a part of Love Without Boundaries nutrition program. It is not started yet, they are waiting to talk to the director. (They are good at asking to help in a culturally acceptable way without insulting their care.) Click here to read Brenda's post about what happens next. (It is her March 11th post.) You can be sure that as soon as they set up something, I will donate. I will also post here, so that any of you that want to help can help. Click here to read about Love Without Boundaries general nutrition program.
You get the satisfaction of helping a child. These children are part of Rachel. They are from her hometown and perhaps a few are distant relatives.
More to be posted when I know something...
Click here to go to our old site. You can click on Bringing Rachel home to read about her earliest struggles with food.
