We've struggled with this decision, but I think it's finally time. Back in April, we returned home to Illinois for a visit, and Oliver was rocking his bottle feedings. He was back up to 50% by bottle, and I really thought we were on our way to removing the tube. But as soon as we returned to CO, Oliver got an ear infection, and started completely refusing the bottle. I don't blame him, I'm sure it hurt to suck. However, in the two weeks it took him to fully get over that, he forgot how to suck on a bottle. His therapist said that he was right at the age where babies' suck goes from being reflexive to learned, and he probably did just forget. We've been working on it the last two months, but he's just not getting it. After a week of him pulling the NG tube out multiple times a day, coughing it up, spitting it up, and it getting clogged, I'm done. I'm ready to see my precious boy's face with no tubes and tape.
Having a G tube will actually be safer than the NG. With the NG, the big fear is it going into his lungs instead of his stomach. That could happen when it's being placed, or when he pulls/coughs it out. The G tube does require surgery to place it, which comes with a risk, but after that there's only a very slight risk of infection; much better than a risk of aspiration. David and I did our research, and decided that we didn't want him to have a nissen fundoplication done at this time. That is where the top of the stomach is tightened so that there is less reflux and spitting up. There can be complications from it, and it can make it nearly impossible for him to throw up it he is sick, as well as not being able to even burp. The surgeon agreed with us, saying that Oliver is definitely not a usual case of a preemie on a feeding tube failing to thrive. Oliver's surgery will be next week, we're just waiting on the scheduler to give us a call.
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