The NAM Device

First a quick update on the big boys...

The "Big Boys" waiting to see the doctor

Jacob and Caleb are both getting big fast!  Since Ethan came home they are learning what it means to be big brothers.  Jacob is in love with his new baby brother and he loves to help me burp him.  Anytime I enter the room holding Ethan, Jacob rushes over to pat his back and every blanket in the room needs to be wrapped around him.  It really is very sweet!  Caleb ignored Ethan in the beginning, but he is really very gentle with him and has starting paying him a little more attention.  They are both working on using utensils, sometimes more effectively than others.  Jacob is trying to talk and mimics everything we say.  Caleb is a little less interested in talking, but mimics our movements.  Both of the boys love music with a good beat and love to dance!  We are trying to get the boys over being sick.  Caleb had Strep Throat and Jacob had Croup.  It was horrible listening to my baby try to breath through Croup!  I hope we do not have to deal with that again anytime soon.

Now on to Ethan; there is a little more going on in his little life:

At the Orthodontist getting NAM device

Eating unassisted

Our first step for Ethan was to get the Naso-Alveolar Molding Device (NAM).  We went in November to have a mold of his mouth done so the Orthodontist could make the device.  This is the same material they use on adults that you have to hold in your mouth while it slightly hardens.  Ethan did surprising well with this.  He did not cry, he only tried to spit the tray out.  We waited two weeks for the device to be made and then we were going to learn how to put the device in and clean it everyday.  The moment the doctor put the device in, Ethan spit up.  The device was gagging him.  The doctor tried to trim the device, but we still had no luck.  We tried again the next week and again, we did not have success.  So now the doctor wanted us to wait a month.  I was heartbroken.  I just wanted to be on the path to fixing Ethan's lip and we were not able to even start.  We waited a month and came back on January 16, 2012.  Jonathan and I both had our fingers crossed that he would be able to keep it in his mouth without gagging.  He still did not like the device, but at least he could keep it in his mouth without gagging.  So they showed us how to put the Fixodent on to hold the device in his mouth and told us we should clean it at least 2-3 times a day.  They also showed us where to place the tape on his lip to help move his lip.  The past month has been filled with ups and downs for me.  I was told he would eat so much better and burp better with this device.  And also that he would grow to love it and not want it out of his mouth.  The first day home with the NAM, Ethan was able to use his tongue to push against the bottle nipple and we did not have to assist him at all.  I cried tears of joy (see picture of me trying to hold the tears back)!  It was the first step, albeit a very tiny one, to his healing.  The NAM definitely helped him eat better.  The jury is still out on whether this has helped him burp better.  I don't even understand how that would work, but he burps fine so I do not really worry about that.  Now to the third claim; he will love it and will not want it out of his mouth.  I call BS on this one!  We have had the NAM a little over a mouth and he does NOT like it (do not let the beautiful smile on his face fool you, he was even happier when I took it out).  It doesn't fit properly and he is able to push it out unless we load it with Fixodent and the Fixodent is not really good for him since it contains Zinc.  There are times that is takes me three times to set the NAM in his mouth properly.  It is a very difficult thing for me to willing put something in his mouth that he hates and has a substance on it that isn't good for him.  At our last appointment I told him the NAM wasn't fitting well and he said that he would add some kind of liner to it that would help.  While I am skeptical that the liner will work, you can see from the pictures below that the NAM and the tape are doing their jobs in moving Ethan's lip, so I will just keep trusting that our doctor knows what is best.

Before the NAM

After one month of NAM