Jacob, age 3
Why TubieTable exists
I built the tool I couldn't find.
Jacob was born extremely early with intrauterine growth restriction, and spent his first months in the NICU on IV nutrition while his digestive system struggled to catch up. Two bouts of pneumonia, heavy respiratory support, and two corrective surgeries followed before we ever brought him home — and he came home tube-fed.
Since then, feeding him has been a years-long process of trial, error, and paying close attention to what his body was actually telling us.
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18 months, breast milk only
Wary of formula being treated as the only real option for tube-fed kids, I chose to feed Jacob only pumped breast milk rather than fortify it, for as long as I could.
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Formula, and a real shift
When we introduced a commercial tube feeding formula, we noticed a real change — his coloring shifted, his feeding tolerance dropped, and he was vomiting after almost every meal. His speech development slowed too.
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A first attempt at home blends
With a dietitian's support, I tried transitioning him to home-blended food. But without a clear system for hitting his calorie needs, he wasn't keeping up his weight, and I went back to formula.
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The breaking point
Last December, we were spending close to $800 a month on formula. I knew we needed a real, sustainable alternative this time — not just another attempt I'd abandon under pressure.
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The AI breakthrough
I used AI to break down the exact ingredients in his formula and build a home-blended recipe designed to match it as closely as possible. The change was almost immediate: vomiting dropped from five times a day to once or twice a week. His speech and cognitive development took off.
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Building TubieTable
Once I saw what it did for Jacob, I couldn't keep it to myself. Other tubie parents deserved the same tool — without having to stumble through years of trial and error to find it.
