Tatum Update: OK, Tatum may have a little bit of bi polar tendencies. Either that or I do. Or she is trying to drive me crazy. Or she is just doing an AB pattern! One of these. She actually had a fairly decent day today. I really only suctioned her a couple of quick times, mostly for surface bubbles. She was fairly restful and pretty smiley. In fact tonight Heidi and Halea and I were sitting with her and we were laughing and joking (bit shocker, I'll bet you can't imagine it) and we think she gave a little chuckle. She for sure was trying to do some raspberries with her tongue today, not successfully, but I knew what she was getting at.
When I was driving to get kids today I had some quiet time in the car and I had a mommy revelation. I have been considering and pondering that maybe her feedings are the root of the gurgle. As I was driving I was trying to remember when the secretions worsened. Then I had the aha moment. It was shortly after her g-tube was placed. So I looked up the dates and it was about a week and a half after her surgery that we got the suction machine. Coincidence, I think not! I put in a call to our GI doctor to bounce some ideas off of him. I think she is refluxing and so I think that we can help her with that. When they place her new tube they can put it into the beginning of her intestine instead of her stomach so that it can't be urped back up through her esophagus. Genius. I think in my mommy heart I didn't want to consider this option because I LOVE food and I wanted her to be able to have food in her tummy. If it can fix this problem, however, I am all for it. I hope this is it.
I had a horrendous call to the hospital tonight, to go and make some memories for a sweet family that just lost their mom, very tragically and very young. It takes just a moment to put life in perspective. Don't waste time on the small stuff right? From what I have heard and read about her she lived life to the fullest, loved her family and was a great person. I am grateful that I have the incredible opportunity to be a very small part of this families journey, all of the families I meet. It is truly an honor and it has kept me grounded during my own trials in life. My heart aches for her family, it is truly a parents worse nightmare to leave little children behind. The Lord will provide, I know this is true.
(When I just did spell check, I had spelled genius wrong! Thought you needed to know that)
Well, I am not sure how Tatum will feel, but when I had the tube going into the intestines instead of stomach, I never even got hungry! The only thing I was bothered with was not being able to *taste* food, so hopefully Tatum will not notice the difference. You really don't need me saying anything, since your mommy intuition seems to be quite intact and you will know what you need to for Tatum as she needs it. So I'm dumb to say it, but one thing that our family has had suggested when other attempts to control reflux failed was a surgery called Nissen Fundoplication. We never did the surgery, but I know some families who did and it made all the difference for them.
ReplyDeleteAlso, yesterday I was looking for something I really want to find and it's lost. I thought I'd check in the hope chests where I keep Dominic and Bridget's things, and there were their hand and feet molds. I haven't gotten those out for awhile. It makes me a bit sad (which is why I don't get them out much) but it made me so grateful I have those keepsakes and the memories they provide since my brain is having a harder time remembering things. Thank you for doing that for so many of us, and continuing this service while also taking care of Tatum, too.
Aren't those Mommy Revelations incredible! I love that extra reassurance that Father knows and loves both me and my baby and is aware of us. And yes, I would think it's entirely possible that she's on an AB schedule. I think Aaron runs more on a 48 hour clock than a 24 hour one with the rest of us. Hang in there, my friend. You're in my prayers.
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