Renewed Hope!

First, there are a couple of new pics to the right. I report tonight some good news and a renewed sense of hope. I was doing "homework" with him and he took some watered down baby food through a syringe. When I say some, I mean about a total of 6-8 mL. He had some great swallows and with a thicker but not too thick substance, he didn't drool out so much. He didn't gag once! Then for his feeding I gave him the rest of the thinned baby food through his tube because I've heard that some kid's reflux gets better when they have some more solid food on their tummy to weigh it all down. Granted, it wasn't true solids because it had to be thin enough for the tube, but it was thicker than the normal milk he gets so that's good. Then I used some rice cereal to thicken his milk and put that through the NG also. He gagged a couple of times but nothing came up!! I'm so excited. I didn't use the pump, because I was afraid it would clog, so it was pretty time consuming to give him syringe-ful after syringe-ful over about 30 minutes--but it was worth it if it helps him keep it down. If he does well again at his next feeding I will call the doctor tomorrow and see if his feeds need to be adjusted because of adding solids. Just pray that he digests it fine.

Small Miracles

Sometimes in the midst of the daily grind, it is easy to overlook the everyday miracles. At least for me it is. Yesterday we got good news and bad news. One prayer answered and another one that God's timing just isn't ready to take care of yet. Dr. Tychsen's office called and said that Connie's eye testing last week showed his eyes are working "pretty well together" and he doesn't want to do anything further at this time. This is fabulous news. God has spared Conway's sight and we are so thankful. When we go back in May they will hopefully be able to do some additional diagnostic testing. They mentioned measuring the muscles or something like that. The older the child gets, the more they are able to tell. We still are asking for prayers that he will not require glasses at that time.

Dr. Brady called back. She said that if Connie were to get the surgical G-Tube that his pacemaker will have to be moved to the other side--yikes! So much for a 24 hour hospital stay on that one. She is going to talk to Child Development to see if we can't move up the Swallow Study since he is going backward and getting more averse to oral stimulation. Once we find out if it is safe for him to eat, we may try to pull the tube completely and see how he does. The downside is that we only get 24 hours to give him a trial run. If he doesn't eat enough, we'd have to put the tube back in. I asked about the super high calorie fortifier and she said, "No". She said that with the meds he is on he needs more "free water" and that 4.5 oz of liquid wouldn't be enough. Doubtful he'd be able to drink 20-30+ oz in a day. Right now he can't even swallow 1/15 of an ounce. She did say that we could let him go without the tube all day and then drop the tube every night and give him most of his calories overnight. We are continuing to pray for a miracle that he will be able take enough orally during the swallow study and continue to improve dramatically so as to actually be nourished by what he takes orally.

Praying for a Miracle

Since the middle of last week, Connie seems to be throwing up more. Basically every time he is due for a feeding and he's not sleeping, he throws up and now he's even waking up to throw up some of them. I put a call into the GI doctor but haven't heard anything back yet.

The dietician from First Steps came out today and we discussed this recent development and I shared my concern that he seems to be going backwards a bit as far as the oral aversion is concerned. He is less interested in doing oral practice and is back to shaking his head "no" most of the time I offer. Child Development warned that he may be getting to the point where he will associate even sitting in the high chair with throwing up and gagging and not want to be there. Long story short, I'm going to ask the doctor if there is a point where we can pull the NG out and try to get him to take something orally. The problem is that it is unlikely he will take enough to sustain him, let alone make him grow. There are products to thicken liquids (for those with swallowing disorders) and those that add a large amount of calories. One such product contains 330 calories in just 1.5 oz. of liquid. If we could just get him to drink about 3 a day (a total of 4.5 oz.) we'd be great. Then there's still the problem of getting him to take his meds orally. Who knows. I just know that I'd like to avoid the G-tube surgery at all cost but he needs to lose this NG tube ASAP. The fact that he's puking before a feeding is even all the way in (sometimes before it is even 1/2 way in) leads us to believe it is not an intolerance problem but a gagging one. All this blabber leads me to what I really wanted to post about. Tonight at our parish mission, the visiting priest passed out prayer cards with the Vincentian Mission Prayer written by St. John Gabriel Perboyre, C.M. He told about how so many miracles have been reported from those who prayed this prayer daily. Greg and I are going to start praying this prayer daily for healing for Conway that he will stop this vomiting and relearn to eat. We would like those that are so inclined to do the same. The best part of the prayer is that nowhere in it does it ask for a miracle. I think you'll love it. Here goes:
Divine Savior, transform me into Yourself.
May my hands be Your hands.
May my tongue be Your tongue.
Grant that every faculty of my body
may serve only to glorify You.
Above all, transform my soul
and all its powers,
that my memory, my will and
my affections, may be the memory,
the will and the affections of You.
I pray You to destroy in me,
all that is not of You.
Grant that I may live but in You,
and by You, and for You,
and that I may truly say with St. Paul,
"I live now, not I, but Christ lives in me."

Thanksgiving

Conway's big, post-surgery debut was on Thanksgiving. It was basically the first time out other than to doctors appts. We packed lots of clothes and washcloths and two pies and headed out the door around 1pm. We got home a little before 9pm. He threw up all but one of the feedings he had while we were gone (frown). The worst was in the car on the way home. That time he threw up the tube out his mouth so we had to pull it out the rest of the way and get the tape off. Tearing the tape off is the most painful for him and at home we soak the tape in water to get it off easier. Couldn't do that in the middle of the backseat so we just pulled it quickly and applied pressure afterward. He soaked his outfit and carseat! He enjoyed seeing everyone and watching the commotion of it all.

His vomiting seems to be increasing again. It is almost like unless he is asleep and still the whole time he's fed and afterward he will throw up and throw up a lot. With him eating every three hours it is hard to do his therapies and practice and not have it induce vomiting. I have to try to do his oral practice at a time where he hasn't been fed within the last hour or so and isn't being fed because he usually gags during it. Same with physical therapy work. It's hard to do tummy time or any other movements of any kind anytime close to a feeding because he throws up. That would all be fine except that then you have to take into account the fact that he takes two long naps every day. So finding a time when he's awake and not hungry but not full is hard. I may try calling the doctor Monday to see if we can give him 150mL every 4 hours or so and that way he still gets the same total amount each day, just an ounce more at each feeding, but less feedings (probably doesn't make sense how I'm explaining it--I'm tired and it's late!). We'll see what she says, but at least that would give us more of a window to work with him at a "not-so-volatile" time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into God's presence with singing!
Know that the Lord is God! It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him, bless his name!
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

Eye Testing Over

Connie had the "spatial sweep" test done today. He looked at outlines of several objects and tracked the objects up and down. The outlines got gradually thinner. Then he went into a dark room and right before the next test began he threw up his entire feeding. Carpet and all! In that room he looked at a screen as the administrator held little characters up to keep his focus. The screen had stripes that got progressively smaller. He wore little electrodes on his scalp during this test. It took less time than we anticipated because he was able to stay focused and look for as long as she wanted him to. He didn't keep pulling off the electrodes or eye patches. Basically, he was rewarded for his cooperativeness by getting out of there early! The trip wasn't without excitement though. On the way home, a car that was about four cars ahead of us spun out on the on ramp causing everyone to slam on their brakes. That landed us half in the ditch. Luckily, we were able to back right out and no one was injured and no property damaged! That's even one more thing to be thankful for this holiday.

The Latest on the Oral Motor Front

We got back from Child Development where Connie once again showed off his progressing oral motor skills. He was able to take about 15ml of cold, apple juice flavored water from the syringe with a preemie nipple on the end. He never sucked the nipple, but would chew it a bit. He swallowed well and didn't keep it all in the back of his throat. Toward the end of 15 minutes, he had a big cough but was able to cough and didn't throw up. We moved on to some applesauce mixed in baby cereal. We just dipped the spoon in the cereal and rubbed it on his lips. He wanted to be the one to move it into his mouth. He did a couple of swallows and was receptive to the texture, but tired of the whole process so we stopped. We have an appointment to do the "swallow study" at St. John's on December 13. They will have him swallow some barium and take an x-ray to see where it's going to make sure he is not aspirating it. That is really the next step before we can move forward with increasing the feedings. At that time, we will know if it will be a matter of weeks or months before he is able to tolerate taking more food. If it looks like it will be months, the g-tube talks will resume, meaning that will likely be the course of action. If it looks like he may be eating a good deal orally by mid-January maybe, then we will just leave the NG tube.

Back from the Eye Doctor

Well, we left for Children's a little after 9am and once again didn't return until several hours later. We spent a whole 4 minutes with the opthamologist but the trip was over four hours! Connie and Mary Kathleen were great though. First we waited and waited to see him and when they finally called us back at 10:55 for a 10:10 appt. I was disappointed when it wasn't even a real MD or our doctor that saw us. He asked some questions and did some tests getting Connie to track toys and then he put drops in his eyes to dilate them and told us to go walk around and come back in 25 minutes. We did but they didn't see us 25 minutes later. We waited about an hour and 25 minutes and then got to see the doctor. He told us we have "great reason to celebrate" and that we "dodged a bullet" with Connie's seizure and that he has one more test he'd like to do to make sure, but he thinks Conway's eyes are not permanently damaged from the seizure/surgery. He said the only concern he has now is that Connie is "excessively farsighted for his age", meaning he works very hard to see things close up and that he wants to follow this. We see him again for a follow-up appt in mid May so he'll determine then if he needs glasses. I sure hope not. He did say that this was not related whatsoever to the cardiac condition, that it just runs in families. I am shocked because neither Greg nor I wear glasses. He seemed a little surprised that our other kids don't wear them given how farsighted Connie seems to be. Kinda makes me want to take them all in to be checked.
Bottom line is that it was a great day. Another reminder of all we have to be thankful for. We go back Wednesday for the big hour and forty five minute test that will give him an even better insight into whether or not there is anything wrong.
OT comes at 4:30 today and tomorrow is an appt. with Child Development speech path and OT to work on Oral Motor Skills at 11. Thanks for looking in.

Murphy's Law

I should know better. Just as soon as I post that things have gotten better in the GI department, they get worse. He had a horrible night and was up until after 3am with reflux pain (I guess). He finally threw up a medium sized (we label it small, medium or big) amount and went to sleep. He slept pretty well until after 9am. This is unusual for him as he is normally up around 6 or 6:30. He threw up so much this morning that he clogged his tube with throw up and phlegm and we had to put in a new tube.

We have a busy week ahead with appointments. He's going to the opthamalogist tomorrow down at Children's and the OT comes tomorrow afternoon. Tuesday he has PT and the dietician is coming. I'm not sure yet when the home health nurse is coming. After the Thanksgiving holiday he'll start having OT on Tuesdays at 11:30 and PT on Fridays at 8am.

Much Improved

The vomiting has decreased significantly since Thursday evening. He did super well holding down his bolus feeds yesterday and only had a tiny amount of spit (more like phlegmy drool) that came up with each one. He woke up just before he was to go on the pump last night but we're not sure if it was reflux or if he was just hungry. He seemed fine once Mommy picked him up. He slept all night long and woke up around 6:00 am. He had his morning vomit (which was actually smaller than it had been the last several days) and spent the morning playing with his sisters and then went down for a nap. He got his 10am bolus feed and held it down and is still sleeping.

Have a great weekend!

Back on the Pump

Talked to Dr. Brady this afternoon and we came to the conclusion that maybe going straight to 7 bolus feeds from 3 may have been too fast of a change for Connie. He's back to normal wetting and stooling and has kept down his 10am and 1pm bolus feeds minus a little, tiny, phlegmy spit. The new plan is to give him bolus feeds at 10a, 1p, 4p and 7p and then turn the pump on continuous at 10pm until 6am. I did the calculations again and it seems that he went from 1140 mL per day down to 700 mL per day for intake when we switched him over. That is considerable and when the vomiting increased, it's no wonder why he lost weight. Now he'll be getting 960 mL per day. Hopefully he handles it well.

Connie was receptive to some new oral motor stimulation today. Yesterday he loved getting very diluted apple juice mixed with ice water via syringe. He sucked the syringe as I slowly emptied it into his mouth. He was heard swallowing and didn't cough or choke or gag at all (until the end when he spit it all up). He did this for a good 20 minutes. Today he did the same with some pear juice in the ice water and wasn't quite as crazy about the flavor. I filled a medicine dispensing pacifier with the juice mixture and dipped it into the juice and offered it to him. He sucked a little (just the tip--didn't put it all the way in his mouth), but was very eager to do it himself--which he couldn't. I then poured some of the juice mixture into a take and toss sippy cup and gave him some sips. He took four sips/swallows and then lost interest. Tomorrow I'm going to try it with the apple and see if he likes that better. It's amazing ! By this time next week he may be drinking more like 1/2 ounce or so from the cup. We'll see.

Still Waiting

We've called the GI doctor back this morning but haven't heard back from her yet. He received 60mL/hour for 11 hours overnight. He fell asleep about 7pm and didn't wake up until 3:30 with a wet diaper. He went back to sleep until 6:30. Then he woke up wet and very nauseous. He threw up three big times. It came out his nose and everything. Then he took a cat nap after all that work! The pump was turned off at 7:30 and he got a bolus feed at 10am and only threw up a small amount. He just went down for his nap. Will update when we hear back from the doctor.

Good News/Bad News

First, the good news. Well, great news, actually. All of you wonderful friends and family spent a total of $2730 on food last night at Chevy's. That means that they donated 15%, or $410.06, from those proceeds to Conway's fund. Thanks again for the super turnout!

The not-so-good news is that Conway is leaning toward the dehydrated side of things. His eyes are looking a bit more sunken, he hadn't had any bm's for almost 48 hours and his wet diaper output had backed off considerably. Combined with the vomiting, weight loss and sunken in soft spot, the GI doctor decided that he needed to be put back on continuous feeding overnight. We're pretty bummed, since this is a move in the backward direction, but we don't want him hospitalized for IV fluids! She told us to give him a glycerin suppository, put him back on the pump overnight and call her back in the morning to tell her how he's doing. He's already pooped twice since the suppository was given about an hour ago! I'm wondering if he was throwing up everything because he wasn't digesting well and was like a baby that eats too much and spits up. Maybe all that food not moving created an environment where he couldn't hold more volume down. The thing that makes me think it's not that though is that before he was fed each time we check for tube placement and when we pull the air that we put in back out, any milk that wasn't digested would come up and milk wasn't coming up. Usually that means that he's digested the milk, but in his case it's that he's thrown it all up. Anyway, we'll just wait and see what the doctor says in the morning. He's already in bed for the night and now Mary Kathleen found an egg decorating kit and since it has bunnies on the outside she's decided we need to dye eggs tonight. So, Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We'll bring the colored eggs!

THANK YOU!!

Greg and I want to thank everyone who turned out tonight for the Chevy's event! Several people who couldn't make it sent us their love. The staff at Chevy's said they'd never seen a crowd like that for one of their fundraising nights. People who came in said they had trouble finding a parking place and at one point there was a 30 minute wait for a table (and we knew most everyone there!). We lost count somewhere after 130 people! We especially want to thank our dear friend, Carol Stadler, for coming up with the idea and organizing the whole thing. What an amazing blessing to have so much love shown for our family! The best part about it was getting to see so many people who prayed for Connie, the people who cried with us, celebrated with us and continue to keep him at the top of their prayer lists. We know that the baby steps we see every day are the miraculous result of such efforts on your part.
Love,
Greg and Erin

ps. pics to follow. I intended to take a bunch but got so busy gabbing with everyone that I didn't get very many!

Chevy's Flyer

In case you don't have the Chevy's flyer and you plan on dining there tonight, you can download it at:
http://www.rockybox.com/conway/chevys.pdf

We look forward seeing everyone and God bless!

Conway's dad,
Greg

Tonight's the Big Event!

Come celebrate Connie's amazing journey with us tonight at the Chevy's Fresh Mex St. Charles location (you can see it from Hwy 70 near the Zumbehl exit)! A portion of the proceeds will benefit Conway's medical fund to help pay for his RX's, doctor's visit copays and insurance deductibles. One of us will be there the whole time (we'll take turns so that someone can stay home with Connie). We can't wait to see you there!

Brother is still having lots of trouble with the morning feeds. This morning he threw up the entire feeding again. He finally had a bm last night so I know things are finding a way out, it's just that he doesn't keep hardly enough down to leave anything to get rid of.

He and Mary Kathleen were so cute yesterday. Here's a video.

Connie adoring Mary Kathleen

Now Protected From RSV

Conway has been given his November Synagis vaccination to protect against RSV, a dangerous illness that cardiac children are more succeptible to. Since he is so big, he had to get two shots, one in each thigh. Jen, his nurse, said that this shot burns going in. He cried and didn't like it one bit.

He got weighed and his weight has dropped. She was here on 11/1 and his weight was 21 lbs. 2.5 oz. Today it was 20 lbs, 7 oz. She isn't too concerned since he doesn't seem to be throwing up more than before and she said before we get all alarmed we'll see what he weighs next week. I told her that Dr. Brady has adjusted his feeds and he now receives 200 mL less per day with the new schedule.

This morning there was some blood in his vomit. It was bloody mucuous, mostly brown, but a little pink. It was a small amount. I saved the wash cloth and pajamas that it had gotten on and showed the nurse. She said it was probably just some irritation either in his esophagus or his stomach. We are to watch it and call the doctor if it persists or increases.

More Firsts

Today at the park Connie rode on the swing for the first time ever!! He had been in our outdoor swing once or twice just before surgery, but this was his first time at the park (remember he couldn't be out in the heat of the summer because of his heart and before the weather got hot, he was too young for it). He held his head up just great. I wish I had a movie of it. He laughed out loud and smiled when he felt himself moving. It brought tears to my eyes to be doing normal things with him. Since we've been home, every time we've gone to the park he's either been in the stroller on continuous feeds or at home with Daddy napping. This is the first time it felt a little like normal, with both Mary Kathleen and Connie playing and having fun. Then Mook wanted to go on the see saw so I helped Conway sit on one side and they went up and down and had more fun. He is really getting into watching her and is so enamored by her. When she comes near him he tries to grab her and she giggles and thinks it is so funny. She's constantly saying to him, "Connie, watch this!" and then she does some trick for him.

It also makes me sad (self pity, I know) when I think about how some things have changed. As a teacher, I know how crucial it is for a child to have a variety of experiences to draw on for future learning. My fear is that since the kids can't have the same sort of or number of experiences they used to have that somehow their cognitive and social development is going to be affected. Sounds silly, I know, but Mook never gets to play with other kids anymore because we're afraid she'll bring some germ home and he never gets to leave the house (except for doctor's appts and to go out in the yard or for walks when the weather is mild enough). What kind of experiences will they have to draw upon?

Still Sleepy

Connie worked so hard today during his first steps eval that he fell asleep at 5:45pm and is still sleeping now (10:30). I guess on therapy days it's an early bedtime. He missed his bath tonight. I'll have to start getting him ready for bed before dinner on those days from now on!
Cross your fingers that he gets his synagis shot (for RSV) tomorrow afternoon. It was supposedly overnighted today and should arrive tomorrow.
Thanks for looking in. Nite!

First Steps Meeting

The team from First Steps just left a bit ago. We went over his evaluations and wrote goals for the next six months. We're planning on him eating orally and cruising up and down the couch by then. Seems almost unattainable at this point, but who would have guessed even a month ago we'd be where we are today? The therapists gave us good ideas of ways to encourage him to do these things we want him to be doing and he will receive therapy services (both OT and PT) once/week for 60 minutes each. Additionally, he'll receive nutrition support from the registered dietician once per month and monthly phone calls from the service coordinator.
So, now the real work begins. We just have to hope and pray that his heart tolerates the increased activity. Don't get me wrong. It's not like he's just been lying still since we've been home, but now that they have given me more ideas, he'll be doing more than before.

Long Winter's Nap

Connie really did go to sleep yesterday at 3:45 pm and not get up until 7am this morning. He woke a few times for a change of pants and had a little gagging (nothing came up) for about an hour between 3-4pm. Other than that, he slept right through. He's had a great morning this morning and is napping now. He has a big afternoon ahead of him. The First Steps Occupational Therapist is evaluating him form 1:30-2:30 and then the whold first steps team, including OT, PT, Dietician and Service Coordinator, is coming to develop his individual service plan at 2:30.

Stay dry and thanks for looking in!

Sleepy-doos

Somebody has big sleepy-doos in his head today (i.e. Connie is sleeping a lot-- whenever the kids are tired I ask if they have sleepy-doos in their little heads). It is now 9:38pm and Conway has been sleeping since 3:45pm. He didn't have much of a morning nap and woke up at 5am and just took a tiny early afternoon nap. I guess he's just catching up. This is the first time I have actually felt a little nervous about him sleeping so much and want to constantly go check on him. I do see him stir and hear him make noises periodically on the monitor but he hasn't even wanted new pants or anything. He held down his 4p and 7p feeds perfectly. After the 1p feed he retched several times but only a little drooled out. I'm just happy he hasn't been waking up after the feeds feeling lousy. Hopefully tonight is better than last night.

REFLUX

Connie's reflux seems to be increasing. Not so much that he's vomiting more necessarily, but he seems to have the discomfort associated with reflux or heartburn a lot more. It kept him up quite a bit last night. He arches his back and cannot get comfortable. He did well yesterday afternoon and evening keeping his new bolus feeds down. I even gave him 120 mL last night at his 10pm feed thinking it would help him not to get hungry overnight. Well, he didn't get hungry, just reflux. He didn't throw up at all though so that was good. Almost all day yesterday he just wasn't his jovial self. He perked up a bit in the evening, but the daytime and late at night he was just unhappy/uncomfortable. Who knows. Maybe we'll see another tooth here soon.

Article on Congenital Heart Defects

This link is to an article about a recent study done on the brains of babies with CHD's. I saw something about it on the news yesterday so I looked it up to get more info.
Article, Titled: Brains of term infants with heart disease resemble those of preemies

I'm not for sure, but I don't think that Conway's specific heart defect puts him at risk for the type of in utero brain damage they are talking about because he was not cyanotic at birth and never had or has low oxygen saturations. The babies in these studies had transposition of the great arteries (NOT Congenitally Corrected Transposition, like him) or Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. Both conditions usually run kids in the low 80's for oxygen sats and his have always been in the high 90's (100 is best). Anyway, I thought it was still quite interesting and I was excited to see something in the news about CHD's. Anything that brings this issue to the forefront is worth passing on, I think. No offense, but I'm sick of seeing all coverage that autism is getting when it affects a reported 1 in 150-166 children and no one ever talks about congenital heart defects and 1 in 100 births has one and many don't make it to one year of age. Why the American Heart Association spends less than 1% of its donations researching or promoting awareness about CHD's is beyond me. Okay, I'm done with my soapbox for tonight. Thanks for reading!

Good News All Around!

Today was a great day and very reassuring for us. First we saw the GI doctor where his weight has again increased and she is very pleased with that. We told her about his progress with oral motor stimulation and what the child development people said and she was even more impressed. She said they are usually the ones pushing her to have the surgical g-tube placed in order to get rid of the ng tube but if she said they must really have hope for him and that they are not usually that optimistic. That made me feel good. I told her that they wanted a goal of his to be to get onto bolus feeds (like every three hours rather than continuous) so we changed him over today. He will get 100mL at 7a, 10a, 1p, 4p, 7p and 10p. If he throws up less than an ounce each time (less than 1/3 of the feeding) then in about a week we will try giving him 120mL every four hours for a week or so and then if that goes well we'll try the 150mL just five times per day. That would be our goal. I am to call her in about a week to let her know how it is going or sooner if he's not tolerating his feeds.
Next we had a Physical Therapy Evaluation by First Steps. The therapist came to the house and I had to wake Connie about 1/2 way through his nap so it took him a few minutes to really get into it. She was very surprised after reading the therapy notes from the hospital how much better he was doing now. Rather than rating his skill level at a certain age range, she was more comfortable just labeling him as "a weak baby" right now. He is doing some things around 4 months or 5 months, but he has a lot of emerging skills that he can't get full credit for on the rating scales because he doesn't do the entire skill or task. We're focusing now mainly on trunk and head control. His legs and lower body are stronger than his upper body and torso. She gave me lots of positions to work him in and ideas for home therapy. Monday we will develop a plan for future therapy visits and I'll get the report in writing about today's visit.
Overall it was a great day for Connie. Everyone who sees him is impressed. Even other parents in the waiting room! Oh, and the Synagis shot is scheduled to be given Tuesday. Finally!
Side note for all parents out there: There seems to be a consensus among those in early childhood that the bumbo seats and bebe pods are not very beneficial. Everyone who has dealt with him since we've been home seems to agree. They don't help a child learn to sit at all. They do help children develop head/neck strength, but that's about it. So, if you're on the fence about buying one, skip it.