Margarethe from Germany was born with a cleft palate and was put on nasogastric tube feeding. In March 2017, she and her family came to Austria to attend our Eating School.
Margarethe from Germany was born with a cleft palate and was put on nasogastric tube feeding. All weaning attempts failed, so Margarethe’s parents decided to bring her, and her brother, to the Eating School in Austria.
Margarethe was four months old when she arrived; she learned to drink and had her first experiences with solid food. The tube stayed in Graz. Margarethe doesn’t need it anymore!
"Dear NoTube Team, do you recognize me? It’s me, Margarethe. In March and April, I visited you all with my parents and my lovely brother to understand a bit better why adults care so much about food. You realized immediately that I am an “individualist.” You were right, and I still am. But I also often hear, “you are so cute,” and think that’s something nice.
Meanwhile, a lot has happened and I wanted to send you something to thank you for your help and the great two weeks in Graz. Of course, you should also get to know how my family is doing and what has happened during all this time. After my surgery in Frankfurt, I felt well again quite soon and even smiled at my doctor at my one-month check up.
She is very lucky that I am not a resentful person. I love to take my life easily and I don’t grumble a lot. It is much more fun to smile and be smiled at. That’s what I also do with my family. That way, they can’t be mad at me when I don’t want something the way they do.
I still love sleeping and getting up in a good mood afterwards. I enjoy it enormously when all the four of us play together in the large bed and when my brother goofs around with me. I often pull my dad’s hair so he knows I am still there and doesn’t fall asleep. Whenever I want to treat my parents, I babble “Mamama” and “Papapa.” I think this sounds really strange, but they always laugh when I do it. I haven’t been eating mashed food for several weeks now.
Instead, I drink my Infantrini enriched with BiCal four times a day from my Habermann bottle (I can’t get rid of this thing!), and I sit at the table for all mealtimes sucking and chewing (with my very first, super-sharp tooth) on everything I get in my hands. I especially like those green, glibbery things; I think they are called cucumbers.
I also took a trip to the Baltic Sea and landed headfirst in the sand; that was fun and made me laugh aloud. It is so nice not to have this weird “tube” in my nose; what was that even for? I already weigh 7800g, and I am very proud!
My mum and my dad wanted to thank you once again with all their hearts. What would have become of us without you? My life would have stayed a torture and now it feels like heaven on earth, honestly. A thousand thanks for everything. We hope that you will continue to help a lot more children and their families to a “normal” life, just as you did with me.
In eternal gratitude,
Margarethe + Mum, Dad and Friedrich