Tubie Love

 

I love a tubie … Yes, it’s true … I love a tubie, how bout you!?!

 

I remember the first time someone suggested a feeding tube for Paul and my stomach churned … like the, I might have to run to the bathroom kind of churn at the thought of my child having a hole cut into his perfect little belly and a tube sticking out of it . This was not a decision we took lightly but in the end, when Pauly stopped eating, it was really our only choice.

 It is a good thing that humans can adapt so easily because it just feels normal now.   We started with an NG tube (throught the nose into the stomach) and ended with a G-tube (directly into the belly). When I am holding another child, I am always careful not to knock their button (see pic below) – then I remember that they eat from a bottle!!  My kids used to nurse their baby dolls and I always thought that was so precious.  Now, they pretend to tube-feed them.   It isn’t scary or weird, it is just how their baby brother eats.

 

Paul's Mic-key button!

It is estimated that close to 1 million people worldwide live with feeding tubes but by the stares I get while feeding P out in public, it is hard to believe.  I am discrete about it … much like I was when nursing my other kids but it has to be done.  I have run across a couple of other people tube-feeding their children and I want to run up to them and tell them my son is a tubie too but then I decided that would just be weird =)

 We are planning to venture back into the world of the blended diet for Paul since he still doesn’t tolerate the manufactured formula as well as we would like.  He tried it last summer but I don’t think his poor little belly was ready for it.  A blended diet is just blenderized food …. And as a mom, I just feel better about that option. 

 
I know often times people who stare are just curious about us but it can make us feel sort of like a freak show.   We are all traveling our own paths and life is often hard and scary .... a little understanding and acceptance goes a long way.

 

 For more information visit http://www.feedingtubeawareness.org/!