He checked into the hospital Monday, and had a feeding tube inserted into his nose in about 60 seconds flat. Unfortunately, docs required that he stay for nearly two days so they could monitor his progress. Additionally, I had to stay by his side so I could learn how to insert and care for the tube, and show the doctors that they could trust me to do this without their supervision. We thought this would be a relatively simple stay, and although in some ways it was. . . it other ways it was hectic and complicated. Doctors, nurses, medical staff and medical pump manufacturer representatives, social workers – people were in and out of the room nonstop throughout the duration of his stay. Discharge was such a relief on Tuesday night.
Our apartment has some serious medical gear now. The Joey Kangaroo pump, attached to a large pole, pushes milk from the suspended bag into his nasogastric tube and through to his stomach. The little guy gets up to 12 hours a day of tube feeding; essentially, he has a target amount to eat each day, and whatever he doesn't have the energy to eat by mouth gets pumped in overnight. The machine is noisy and requires frequent refills/cleaning/maintenance, in addition to the burping and other baby maintenance that James needs :) so we're still working on getting used to the new addition.
His new stuffed monkey from Aunt Liz is a big hit, but unlikely to keep his tail for long in James' eager hands!
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