Good Bye G-Tube

Lauren had her appointment with the GI doctor yesterday. The last time she was seen was back in April and I have been doing a lot of praying that she would have finally have gained enough weight to get her button taken out at this appointment. We haven't been using her tube since last year. She just eats a lot better without being fed at night and I made a motherly decision to stop feeding her at night. Once I did that her acid reflux went away, her constipation went away and she started eating good by mouth. I knew she would gain weight because she was eating good, I just didn't know if it would be considered a "adequate" amount of weight for her doctor. When we went back in April she was still following her 2% curve, but if she lost any weight at all she would fall back to the 1% and as long as she was following her curve at 2% they would be happy. I did think that maybe I had made the wrong decision and fed her a couple of times at night, but still had that feeling that I just needed to see what she would do on her own. I mean there were a lot of positives to not feeding her at night.

1. She really wasn't gaining weight like I thought she would because her stomach wasn't able to hold all of the formula that she needed in order to gain weight, so she was behind in her intake anyway.
2. About 4 times a week in the middle of her feeding (which always fell around 2 am) she would throw up and I would end up stopping her feeds for the night anyway. Not to mention what a hassle that was.
3. You could still hear her formula in her stomach at lunchtime sloshing around.
4. She didn't eat breakfast or her morning snack. She ate a few bites of lunch, but didn't start eating until around 3:30 in the afternoon when I gave her her afternoon snack.
5. She was so constipated that she had to have 10 mls of milk of mag everyday and even that sometimes didn't keep her regular.
6. She suffered from acid reflux all day.

So, because of all of these reason's, I kept with my decision to not feed her at night and did a lot of praying that she would start eating good and gain weight. I was really nervous about this appointment. I mean, it was either going to be an 'I am a good mom and made a good decision' appointment, or 'I am the worst mom in the world...let's call social services on her' appointment. My heart was beating so fast when she stepped on the scale. Of course, the first weight they give is in kg. So when I saw the 10 point something on the scale I thought, Oh my she has lost a ton of weight. Then the nurse pushed the button and she was 3 ounces away from 23 pounds. I was happy to see that number, but couldn't remember what her last weight was and knew they also factored in her height and I knew she had grown a ton so I still wasn't confident she would still be in the 2% mark. When the doctor came in the first words she said was "Someone is ready to graduate from GI." I was so relieved. She had gained 3 pounds since her April appointment, which is very impressive since they have all been because of her eating and no supplements. She is still in the 2% mark and growing good. Before they can take her button out, since she has had it for so long, they have to downsize her to the smallest one. Since she is only one size up from the smallest one it should be out within a month. Apria is sending me the button, I will put it in and call the pediatric surgeon to make an appointment to get it taken out. There is a possibility her stomach will not close up immediately since she has had it for so long, so she might have to get it stitched up instead of it closing on it's own. That is why her doctor wants a pediatric surgeon to take it out. Overall this was a great appointment and God is still blessing little Lauren in abundant ways.