G-Tube Surgery

Spent Jeremy’s birthday at Primary Children’s hospital for little Henry’s G-tube surgery. (Happy Birthday, honey!) I’m glad Jer took the day off to be there for me and our son.

I don’t take surgery lightly when the doctors ask why we want the G-tube for Henry. I tell them we have tried for months with other ways, we’ve been at this crossroads before where Baby is drinking a lot orally but not enough, and we can either wait for him to progress or we can be in this same spot months later wishing we had just done it.

I can’t explain it other than after all we’ve been through together in his feeding journey, my gut feeling as his Mom is telling me that this change will be that push he needs to really take off. The consulting surgeon told us to trust our parental instincts.

Like An Ear Piercing?

“I tell parents to think of it as simple and easy as an ear piercing,” the consulting surgeon said. Hahaha, not quite!

They sent us g-tube videos of what to expect: 6 weeks of recovery, and issues we’d need to know how to treat. For example, how to clean the surgical site for the first 2 weeks; what to do if we see his stomach lining coming out of the surgical hole; signs of an infection; how to use the Emergency Kit if the g-tube completely falls out to keep the hole open while getting to an emergency room. Hmm, a bit more involved than an ear piercing…

Our Nutritionist made a feeding plan for transitioning him back to his normal feeds after surgery because his tummy wouldn’t be able to handle the same volume and rate at first with a balloon in his stomach. How is this like an ear piercing, again?…

Pre- and Post-Op

We got anxious preparing for surgery- packing our bags for an overnight stay at the hospital, timing all his feeds so we could follow fasting instructions, making arrangements for all the things while away…

I’m so thankful my parents came to help us during the hospital stay. We made plans for our other kids to eat and have rides before/after school, getting the dog walked, hiring a cleaner for the house to get it nice for my parents to stay with us.

The surgeon, anesthesiologist, and nurses all consulted with us before and after the procedure.

The nurse asked us to share in our own words why Baby is having this surgery.

Switching to a G-tube may help Henry transition to more oral feeds, allow him to be active and increase oral development, and less prone to pulling it out.

Jer and I had to remind ourselves of those reasons when we first saw Baby afterwards, very pale and protest weakly with grunts. His surgery went well, but the first 6hrs afterwards was rough when we couldn’t do enough for his pain.

The anesthesiologist had said we would need to comfort and snuggle first to see if that worked before stronger meds would be given, yet the staff ended up giving him 2 doses before we even held him. He’s also teething, poor kid.

They removed the extra tissue at his belly button, so now the little button part I loved so much is back to normal. 

Hospital Stay

We stayed overnight at the hospital. Jer and I had hospital food via room service since we couldn’t leave.

Inflammation is highest in the first 3 days, so Baby got alternating meds to better manage pain. He tolerated the small amount of feeds well, and we’ll build back up to his normal feeding schedule this week if we can.

This strong baby was rolling over when he was not supposed to be on his tummy (lil stinker! 😆). Our nurses had to put him in “baby jail” by making a sort of bumper around him out of blankets.

We took a g-tube class taught by the Wound Care nurses, and that gave us practice and grew our confidence in caring for Baby’s surgical site while it heals.

He kept food down all night and morning, and his pain was ok so they discharged us in the afternoon.

An active shooter alert came right when we were about to leave so we were on lockdown. When the “all clear” update came, our nurse walked us out to our car as part of protocol. Later we found out the alert was a false alarm.

My parents and sister held the fort down while we were away, and even stayed longer to help us so much! I’ll write about those amazing memories separately, but all of us especially our kids LOVED time with my family.

Update

It’s been 4 days since Baby’s surgery. We are still transitioning back to his regular feeding schedule, but he just drank his entire bottle during a daytime feed! He’s so happy during the day sucking on his fingers and chewing on his hands. He sleeps in his bassinet at night now. I’m super excited for his progress!!