Tube Trauma

So, blog updates slowed considerably after leaving the NICU (with all my free time there, ha)! We busted outta there on Friday, March 17--18 days in the NICU with our Trisomy 18 baby girl! By the time we left, we felt much more confident that we were equipped to care for Verity at home. It was a beautiful sunny day, reflecting the joy exuding from us as well as our supportive medical staff.

My welcome home was a bit underwhelming, since kids were enjoying a quiet afternoon movie, but Verity and I did get a handmade sign, so that's something, lol. I got a wonderful nap before waking to enjoy dinner brought by a church friend, and then we had our first official Night At Home. It was pretty much like any other first night at home with a newborn, i.e. not sleeping very soundly. The oximeter kept beeping off and on even though Verity's sats only dipped briefly into the upper 80s before going right back up into the 90s. It made for a very unrestful night...

Saturday we made no plans, so Verity decided to take matters into her own clenched hands: she managed to dislodge her feeding tube at the end of the 5pm feeding! At least, we think it was Verity who did the dirty deed...we originally blamed 19-month-old Rhema, who was toddling around the kitchen when it happened, but the nurse practitioner at the ER said she has seen infants easily get their tubes out with a well-placed finger that then jerks with a flailing arm...and we've seen that motion a lot, lol.

Since the tube is a 30-day tube, one that parents are not generally trained to place (they use an X-ray machine in the hospital to verify correct placement), we had to take Verity to the ER per the discharge instructions (that we had received just over 24 hours prior, sigh). Thank goodness our discharge activities had included receiving an extra tube to have on hand in case of such an event!

The ER we went to was at the hospital where Rhema was born, which is much closer to our home but isn't set up with a full NICU. The NP on duty actually works at the medical center where Verity was born, and she was doing a rotation at the Bellevue hospital. It was a blessing for us, since she had heard all about our family and Verity when she was on duty at UNMC the night before, having just missed us since we were discharged that day! So it was almost like greeting a friend in the ER! Everyone was very kind, and we finished replacing the tube just in time for the next feeding. Whew! We have anchored that sucker down, changing the tape almost daily to ensure that there is no place for Verity (or anyone else) to hook a finger and pull it out again. I'm sure this won't be the last time, but I confess the incident makes me actually eager to learn to do this process myself so we can use the smaller tubes that are changed more frequently.

[As an aside, at our follow-up appointment with our pediatrician at the base clinic, we learned that apparently there was difficulty getting those smaller tubes down properly, so that was a big reason that the doctor at UNMC chose to use the 30-day tube. When Verity grows a little more, our doctor agrees that Ted and I will learn to place the tubes and we will switch. Whew!]