Look for the Silver Lining

What a weekend we had at my house. Friday we had a visit from Elaina's Home Health nurse. This was her first visit since Elaina's last hospitalization, so a lot had changed. The newest addition was Elaina's NG tube. I mentioned in a previous post that the nurses at the hospital taught me how to place the tube down Elaina's nose and thread it to her stomach. Just so you know, this is NOT a fun thing to do to your baby. It makes her cry. It makes her cry a lot. The nurse in the hospital literally held my hand and helped me guide the tube into place. It was very emotionally draining, I think I shed almost as many tears as Elaina did. I told myself that I could do this, that Elaina was depending on me, and besides, I have a nurse coming once a week for home vists. Just knowing that I had this back up really lulled me into a false sense of complacency. The nurse came, she checked all Elaina's vitals. We stripped her to a dry diaper to weigh her (9 lbs 3.5 oz!! YAY), and then down to NG business. Well, I didn't get off as easily as I'd planned when it came time to change the tube. The nurse told me that it was VERY important for me to do it. By myself. "What if she pulled it out in the middle of the night? What if the tube traveled out of her stomach and needed to be pulled and replaced?" Okay, okay. I can do this! I tried 3 times to put the tube down her nose. She coughed, she sputtered, she gagged, she turned red and purple, and she CRIED!!! Worst of all she looked at me as if to say "Mother, how dare you do this to me. In my own crib! You traitor, you've betrayed me!" Okay, so maybe I'm reading a lot into the look, but it broke my heart. After the 3rd try, I gave up. I told the nurse that I would continue to "practice" each week that it needs to be changed, but I could not keep inflicting this torture on my baby. The nurse got the tube in on the first try. Figures. Poor Elaina. After the nurse left, I ran to get her some warm pajamas and a bottle. When I went back into the room she was just laying in her crib, a catatonic look on her face staring at the ceiling. Oh the injustice of it all! It was an exhausting experience for the poor baby. I'm sure that she thought all this nonsense was behind her when she left the hospital. After I fed her a bottle and gave her some much needed TLC, I went to the kitchen to make Ben an ice cream cone. I bribed him with this reward so that he would stay in the family room while the nurse and I tormented the baby. It worked. He'll do just about anything for an ice cream cone. I got out the carton of ice cream and it was all melted. Huh?? Did Ben leave the door open when he made his waffles this morning? Must have, the milk is still cold. Dinner time came. The milk was no longer cold. My fridge was going out. SO, I had to call my landlord and let them know what was going on. You can just imagine how quickly they responded to my 9pm plea for help. I got nothing. I called again Saturday morning and this time I got a call back. It probably helped that I mentioned that I have a baby with a heart problem and medication that requires refrigeration, because by Saturday afternoon I had a brand spankin new fridge in my kitchen. I mean, brand new in the box from Home Depot! With all the bells and whistles. Crushed ice and filtered water in the door! Woo Hoo! I know it's probably silly, but it was the silver lining to my weekend!