Friday, October 8, 2010

No Tube Today.


OK. I will make this short and sweet.

We saw Dr. Freedman yesterday. He's awesome. Super Duper Awesome. He's great with Patrick of course. He's got an incredible talent for numbers and is on top of every little detail as if Patrick were his only patient. Part of why I love him so much is because he trusts me, and he trusts my instincts. He trusts that Patrick's Mom actually knows a lot about her Little Lovey.

I talked with him yesterday about trying a day without the tube. And he was all for it. He knows that I'm not going to not feed Patrick. I'm not going to let him get dehydrated or lose weight. He trusts me. And that is empowering.

The plan was this: Wake up Patrick at 7 a.m. and give him his medication via the tube. Then remove the tube and let the feeding frenzy begin.

Yeah, right.

Here's what actually happened.

At 2:30 this morning, while I was already up (consoling Luke after his latest in a series of nightmares) I heard a slight cough/gag coming from Patrick's crib. When I checked on Patrick I found him holding his tube in one hand, and smiling from ear to ear.

The tube was out.

We shut the pump off and just let him go back to sleep. We all went back to sleep.

I wish I could report that Patrick awoke, hungry and ready to eat. Quite the contrary.

His visiting nurse was here at 8:00 a.m. for her twice-weekly check up. She helped me give him his meds by mouth which he despised... I tried feeding him a bottle, I tried feeding him solids, I tried veggies, I tried fruits, I tried cereal, I even gave him a taste of chocolate. The reality is that the entire day went by and he hardly consumed a thing. A teaspoon here or there of baby food. A few drips of milk on occasion.

By 4:45 p.m., I replaced the tube and started his feeding.

So disappointing. But all was not lost. Patrick had a delightful day. Played happily (no throwing up! -- his tummy was too empty...), looked adorable sans tube...

We will try it again. Soon. Maybe Sunday.

I'll keep you posted!



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