Wednesday, August 20, 2008

A Really Good Day!!


We went to the Cardiologist today and everything went great!! He said that Parker looks really good. His color was really good, his heart sounded good, and he has gained 2 pounds since his last visit!! His O2 saturation was 86% (that is really good for Parker, last month it was 75%). He weighed 15 lbs 6 oz!! We dont have to go back for 3 months....i cant believe that Parker will be one year old when we go back.
So, I told Dr. Seib how good Parker was doing with his eating and taking his medications by mouth and he said he could get his g-tube taken out!! I couldnt believe what I was hearing. I have been praying for this day for almost 9 months! I know alot of babies have their g-tube much longer but I was so excited!!
This is Parker in the waiting room just relaxing

Dennis and I were so excited!!

Here is Parker after he got the g-tube out with his abdominal binder that he has to wear for 48 hours. It is so weird that his tummy is flat and nothing is sticking out!!
I kind of have mixed emotions. ....The g-tube was a part of our normal and now it isnt there. It is a happy day but strange at the same time.
I will never forget the day the doctor told me that Parker was going to get a g-tube. I was VERY upset. (my sweet baby was going to have a permanent tube in his stomach!!!) He was still on the ventilator from his heart surgery and they had never even tried to feed him by mouth. They wanted to do the surgery while he was still on the ventilator so they didnt have to put him back on it. They told us that 95% of babies with the heart problem Parker has end up getting a feeding tube at some point. After speaking with practically every Cardiologist and nurse and praying about it we decided to go ahead and let them put the g-tube in. It is the best decision we ever made! Parker had such a hard time eating at first. He would get sweaty after eating less than 1/4 of an ounce (5 cc's). He would have never gained any weight without it. It was a slow process with lots of frustration on my end. As I look back I see that I got a little too frustrated at time, but now it is all over. Parker eats 6-7 oz every feeding and eats baby food!! He is still really small for his age but he is gaining weight and that is all that matters. I know we will still have struggles but the majority of them are behind us for now.
I still cant believe it is gone!!!

2 comments:

The Simmons Family said...

FANTASTIC NEWS!! I am so excited he got his Gtube out.. who knew it was that easy?? I for sure thought it was another surgery! I'm contemplating it more and more as the NG gets to be more of an obstacle.

Way to go Parker on your 2lb weight gain. What a great cardiology visit!

Andra

Kim said...

That is great!! I had a friend who had a daughter with one. She had it from the time she was a tiny baby till about the time she started kindergarten! It was due to reflux {it was that bad!} We were so happy when that thing came out!!! She is in the 2nd grade now and you would never know she ever needed it!