After 21 years of marriage and 2 miscarriages, we believed we would not be able to have children. So, we were very surprised when I became pregnant at 41. We naturally conceived fraternal twins, but at 8 weeks lost one of them due to a ruptured placenta.

All went well until 20 weeks when I was diagnosed with preeclampsia and put on bed rest. Even with all the efforts of my doctor, I had an emergency c-section at just 27 weeks and our son was born at just 1 lb 8oz. He faced all of the risks of such a premature birth complicated by his extremely small size, since he should have been over 2 lbs at that gestation. It was a nightmare experience, but miraculously, after 2 eye surgeries and one to repair a hernia, he overcame it all and was discharged from the hospital after 106 days at 7 lbs. He required oxygen therapy for another 2 months as well as physical therapy to overcome his developmental delays. And, at 1 year old he was developmentally caught up to his peers and no longer needed any special treatment.

His only lingering problem was a low appetite and a dislike of many food textures. Many preemies and other children who have had to be ventilated develop oral aversions, and although his are not severe, they are still a problem. I sympathize with those whose children won’t eat at all. He weaned off the bottle fine, but would not eat enough food to gain weight. Anytime he had a problem from a simple cold or an ear infection to the normal stresses of vacations and holidays, he would slow down on his eating and in some cases lose weight. At 18 months old, he only weighed 15 lbs. I was scared for him and worried about his adult height if he didn’t start putting on weight. I tried everything imaginable to get him to eat to no avail. After visiting with a nutritionist and his pediatrician, we put him on Nutren Jr.
This product has been a lifesaver for us. He gains weight even when he won’t eat solid foods. And he not only drinks it, he asks for it by the name he gave it - “high protein vanilla milk”! Everything else we tried, he actually spit out. Now at 2 ½ years old, he is a healthy 24 ½ lbs and finally on the “normal” growth curve for his age. He is eating more solids, but still gets two cans of Nutren Jr everyday.

Preemie Baby Collage

I found Allegro Medical through Amazon.com and eventually went to buying directly from Allegro. I love the convenience of on-line ordering, and since I order so much of this stuff, the one time I had an issue with missing cans from an order, the customer service department set my next order up with free shipping. Thank you Allegro Medical, for offering these products and providing such good customer service.

I now order Carnation Instant Breakfast
shakes from your company as well. It seems my husband and I have the opposite problem from our son -- we are trying to lose weight!

Allegro sends a big hug to Eilene and her family for sharing their story, and a smooch for being such great Allegro customers.

Are You an Allegro Fan?

If you have a story about how an Allegro product helped you or someone you care for, we'd love to hear it. Please email up to 500 words to Valerie Paxton at vpaxton (at) allegromedical (dot) com. All submissions will be considered. Have a great day!