The scheduled surgery for Emma's g-tube is slated for 9am on December 23. Emma is 5 months old. Emma cannot eat anything prior for a number of hours. On the positive side, this means a little sleep for mom. Unfortunately, she is unable to sleep, thinking about the day to come. Mom gets woken up at 8am by the nurse saying there is an 8am slot for Emma. No time to shower, mom changes out of her pajamas and off we go.
The procedure goes as scheduled and after the sedation starts to wear off, mom and dad get to see Emma. Shortly we are notified that Emma did not get her first dose of antibiotics that baby is supposed to receive after getting this procedure. The doctor is apologetic and Emma is going to be getting an extra dose this evening to help prevent infection!
We are unable to feed Emma through the tube today. She still has the tube through her nose. This evening they will start a drip-feed through the g-tube. Tomorrow will be our first g-tube feeding. The plan is still to check out on Saturday, Christmas Day.
Thursday evening there is talk that we can go home the next day, after we've done a couple feedings with the g-tube. This would mean we would get to go home in time for Christmas after all. We have been preparing ourselves in case we don't get to leave until Christmas. We can't delay Santa Claus for Catie. If we leave on Friday (Christmas Eve) everything will work out great.
I am nervous about doing the g tube feedings, but it turns out to be easier than I thought. In the hospital we use a pump. When we go home we will first use a gravity system. However, later on we end up changing to using a pump at home after a few weeks because of the amount she spits up. The hope is that she will keep down her food better if we can feed her at a rate slower than can be accomplished with the gravity feed.
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