It may only take a cheese puff…

My husband and I were laughing about cheese puffs the other night as I was telling him about getting our daughter to take her antibiotic by offering her a puff when she finished her dose. Those way too orange to be good for you puffs were a great motivation for her and a tremendous reminder of the crazy food struggles we went through with her.

My spunky monkey has DiGeorge Syndrome that caused her congenital heart defect. Open-heart surgery at six days old and the first month of her life in the hospital was my normal for a while. We came home on an NG tube because she was not strong enough to finish her 3 ounce bottles on her own. She blew us all away and within a week of being home we were no longer having to use the NG tube for her milk. She pulled it out a few days later and there was no going back. If I even came close to her nose with anything, I had a screaming nightmare on my hands! She was not going to let us put anything back down her nose!

A couple of months went by and she was doing fairly well. She wasn’t a big eater and never really increased the amount of milk she was getting. We fortified her formula to add some more calories to keep her gaining weight. Then the reflux hit full force. I mean you could hear when we were trying to give her a bottle. Blood curdling screams at times. Some days it felt like we were force-feeding her. She would cry, I would cry. I would question if my milk was causing the issues. It was a daily battle that raged in our house! Her pediatrician and I worked hard to keep a feeding tube away. I knew in my gut if we went that route, she would fall further and further behind in her oral eating.

Then we started on the specialists. We were sent to a pediatric gastroenterologist. I will just say I wasn’t thrilled. We paid a lot of money to sit and talk about her eating habits and then had nothing but a few tips to try when we got home. She saw us a second time and recommended a feeding evaluation be done. Once again – not thrilled! No real answers, they just suggested that my daughter and I basically move three hours away from home and take part in their intense feeding therapy. She would go Monday through Friday 9:00 am-5:00 pm in therapy for eight weeks. I thought that was a bit extreme! Especially for the fact we hadn’t tried therapy at home yet and she was only 9 months old. I don’t think they were thrilled when I didn’t want to sign up right then and there.

Needless to say, I spent a lot of time crying and worrying. We agreed to see one more specialist, an ENT. We also said yes to start feeding therapy in town. When we saw the ENT, I could have hugged him! He wanted to be proactive. He listened to our concerns, looked at us, and was ready to scope her. He wanted to make sure nothing was wrong with her structure and get to the bottom of her not eating.

Fast-forward two months. We had some therapy under our belt and an increase in her reflux meds. Our spunky monkey was being dismissed from therapy! She was eating again! She was gaining weight! And it only took that one stinking cheese puff to motivate her during therapy. I had a smiley girl asking for more and NOT screaming.

Find the cheese puffs in your life. It may only take one.

So God Made a Mother book by Leslie Means

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A MOTHER available now!

Order Now

Check out our new Keepsake Companion Journal that pairs with our So God Made a Mother book!

Order Now
So God Made a Mother's Story Keepsake Journal

Christy Margritz

Born and raised in central Nebraska, Christy lives in Kearney with her husband, two daughters, son, and three dogs. She is a kindergarten teacher with a passion for worship. Some of Christy’s favorite things include singing, dancing, watching movies, or reading a good book. Most days you can find her dancing and singing with her kids!

Mom Showed Me What It Means to Be a Caregiver

In: Grief, Grown Children, Loss
Grown woman with her mother smiling, color photo

My mother is an extraordinary woman. She inspires me to be a better person. She has spent seven years selflessly caring for my father after a horrific battle with Stage IV tongue cancer. During this time she would laugh with me, cry with me, and express her fears and frustrations with me. My mother is the definition of strength and courage while surrounded by heartbreak and human suffering. During the time my mother was taking care of my father she had her own health issues. Her colon perforated in 2012 making her critically ill. It’s nothing short of a miracle...

Keep Reading

Mom May Never See Our Home, but Her Love Lives Here

In: Grief, Loss
Cute and quaint house, color photo

To the average person, it was a typical Wisconsin Friday in October—wet, dreary, and a bit nippy. To my wife and me, it was a day of both elation and sadness. We put in an offer on a house we both loved. My wife spotted it a few days beforehand; we toured it alongside a couple of other options, and just knew it was the one. And we did it without our mothers. Her mother died seven and a half years before. At the end of October was the three-year anniversary of my mother’s death. There’s something to be said...

Keep Reading

This is How to Support Miscarriage Moms

In: Grief, Loss, Motherhood
Woman with arm around another woman sitting in field

When you hear the term miscarriage, what do you think? My initial thought was the loss of an unborn child, but have you ever really wondered what truly happens when you are having a miscarriage? Our first miscarriage occurred immediately after our wedding in 2019, we had a chemical pregnancy after conceiving while on our honeymoon. This means we had a positive pregnancy test, but by the time we got to our OB/GYN, I had the heaviest period of my life, resulting in a negative serum pregnancy test. That was hard enough to go through but was nothing compared to...

Keep Reading

To the Family with a Loved One in Jail

In: Grief, Living
Woman with head in hands

At first, I wanted to hide. I didn’t want to face people anywhere, not at the grocery store, not at work, not even at church. I was ashamed, hurt, and humiliated. It was after that day not so long ago when one of my sisters called me, sobbing so hard I could barely understand the awful message she was telling me. He’s been arrested, she was saying. We need to go tell Mom. Oh, God, no. Please, please, no. How can this even be real? But it was real. RELATED: Tragedy Changes You, But it Doesn’t Have To Ruin You...

Keep Reading

My Daddy Is In the Arms of Jesus

In: Grief, Loss
Grown daughter walking with older father

My daddy went home to the arms of Jesus just a few short days before Christmas. My family was given the greatest gift of time with him individually to speak the words they needed him to hear and to listen to the words he wanted to say. It was a gift we are beyond grateful for because we know not everyone has that time with their loved ones before they go, especially now. So, yes, I am grateful, but I miss him. I awoke this morning with a dance happening in my heart. The dance of grief and joy. I...

Keep Reading

Even Though You Left Too Soon, You Gave Me Hope

In: Grief, Loss, Motherhood
Early sonogram image

This was the fifth time I’d seen those two pink lines letting me know that a baby was on the way, but I only had one child to show for it, so I’d learned to damper my happiness and excitement. Each miscarriage brought its own unique flavor—one was marked by anxiety, another anger, deep sadness, and then apathy. I’d learned not to get too close to a pregnancy, but this time I leaned into it in a way I hadn’t before. There was a tender and growing elation, and I felt immediate love and gratitude. Sure, there was no telling...

Keep Reading

We Picked up Our Daughter’s Ashes Yesterday

In: Grief, Loss, Motherhood
Mother holding decorative urn in baby's room, color photo

We picked up her ashes yesterday . . . our daughter’s ashes. Though the funeral home was only about an hour away, the trip felt like an eternity. I stared blankly out the window for most of the drive, somewhat calmed by the cocktail of medications I had been placed on and was brought back to reality only by the occasional pain searing through my abdomen. When we arrived, the parking lot was completely empty. Snow lined the edges of the lot, and the sun shone all too brightly. We had assumed the funeral director would be there to greet...

Keep Reading

The Hardest Prayer I Ever Prayed

In: Cancer, Grief, Loss, Motherhood
Bald-headed little girl in hospital bed with her mama, color photo

Trigger warning: Child loss I had a plan for summertime fun with my children. We had just returned from a week-long road trip to the Grand Canyon. I intentionally planned to fill the rest of the summer with activities that would chase away boredom. Craft supplies had been purchased, day trips had been planned, and we were just beginning a week of Vacation Bible School. Excitement was in the air! Yet a tiny nagging fear kept resurfacing: Was there something wrong with my 2-year-old? Ever since she turned two back in the fall, she had become fussy. Our healthy, happy...

Keep Reading

My Mom Passed away and I Don’t Know Who I Am Anymore

In: Grief, Loss
Mother and daughter on a carousel ride, older color photo

For the last sixteen months of her life, I was one of my mother’s primary caregivers, and now that she’s gone, I feel lost. My beautiful, strong, hilarious, and fun-loving mom not only survived but thrived after a heart attack and open-heart surgery at age 67. So 10 years later, we were all surprised to learn that the aortic aneurysm with which she had lived for over a decade had expanded to dangerous territory. We were told she would soon die without another risky open-heart surgery. The one thing my mother feared more than going into surgery was death. Her...

Keep Reading

Dear Dad, I Pray for Our Healing

In: Faith, Grief, Grown Children
Back shot of woman on bench alone

You are on my mind today. But that’s not unusual. It’s crazy how after 13 years, it doesn’t feel that long since I last saw you. It’s also crazy that I spend far less time thinking about that final day and how awful it was and spend the majority of the time replaying the good memories from all the years before it. But even in the comfort of remembering, I know I made the right decision. Even now, 13 years later, the mix of happy times with the most confusing and painful moments leaves me grasping for answers I have...

Keep Reading