As I type, I am watching Jackman wallow around on the floor like a pig in the mud, having the time of his life. If ten percent of the world's people woke up in as good of a mood as Jackman does, the world would be buying each other Cokes, and there would be peace in the Middle East.
Things are starting to settle into some sort of crazy routine around here. Obviously, keeping up with the blog doesn't fit in well with that routine at the present, but I'm sure everyone understands (since of course, it is the boy who's always wanting to play).
We had a little excitement last week. Jackman still has the g-tube. The one he has comes with a detachable tube, so when it's not in use, there is just a small port beside his belly button into his stomach. It's held in place by a balloon filled with water. As he grows, sometimes they wear out or get too small and have to be replaced.
Well, last week I was getting ready to feed the boy at noon. He threw up everything he ate at 9:00am, so I figured he was hungry. Just as I was about to get started hooking him up to get fed, his g-tube button started coming out. The balloon inside had completely deflated.
Well, being somewhat of an amateur surgeon after our week long stay at the hospital, I got ready to replace the button. We have spares here at the house. My mother just happened to be here, so she was assisting me. I got all the stuff I needed, plus a big black Buck knife I carry around everywhere I go. I knelt down beside the boy, and flipped the knife open, and Ma looked a little nervous. The I took the knife and cut the box open and got the new g-tube button out. (I know what you were thinking).
Next, I took the old button out and pit the new one in. It takes a steady hand and nerves of steel. Have you ever played the game at Cracker Barrel with the little golf tees? You take one out, and put one in... it's like that.
After that it was time to test and make sure it was in the stomach. There's always the risk that somehow it went into the abdominal cavity instead of the stomach, so you have to hook up the line with a syringe and try to draw out some enough stomach contents just to confirm it's in the proper place. Well, I did all that but the problem was his stomach was empty. He hadn't eaten in three hours, and he threw up everything he ate then. Just like I figured, I got nothing. I rolled him on his side and tried again... nothing.
Now I should mention that I had no doubt that it was placed right. Its slid right in place effortlessly. It's kind of like putting in an earring, it should just slide right in, and if it doesn't, something is wrong.
Even though it went in perfectly smooth, I called Lisa and we talked it over and decided it was best to call Children's. She called for me, then they called me at home and walked me through a few more things to try, but I still got nothing. Then they said, "you need to bring him up here right now for an x-ray".
I guess I was about due an exercise in humility, because this was a blow to my stubborn pride. But when it comes to the boy, there was no way I was going to knowingly put him at any risk for the sake of being right. So we packed up and hit the road.
Four hours later... it turns out I was right. Some good came out of it. I realized I have to stop thinking like I used to. I never hesitated to take him to get him checked, but if it had been anything else besides him, I would have never backed off (you can ask Lisa). Maybe it wouldn't hurt for me to bend a little sometimes, except when it comes to mayonnaise or Auburn football.
Also, the boy got to visit some of his nurses on the way out, since the evening shift was already in. He always gets a kick out of seeing them, and they do as well. There's still one of his nurses we haven't run into since we left the hospital that we have to see to make sure we get everyone covered.
The boy is doing really good. He's over 18 pounds now. I think he's almost 28 inches long. He can stand up with his hands propped on something (even though he hasn't started crawling yet). I have a feeling he will walk, talk, scoot, and eat in that order. Yep, were still working on eating. It's just going to take a while, a lot of work, and patience.
Well, I think I hear a baby waking up. Until next time....
Too funny about the knife:)
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