Rebekah has a somewhat disgusting trick she does about once a week. She waits until no one expects it, and then wiggles until her ng (the feeding tube that goes from her nose to her tummy) moves. She gags, and before anyone has time to react, her ng comes out of her nose. It is not a pretty sight.
This time, however, was much worse than usual. I’ve seen ng tubes come out, and I’ve seen ng tubes go in. This time it was my turn to be the bad guy.
I put the ng in her nose.
We’ve been planning to practice putting an ng in because realistically she’ll need extra support with eating for at least the next few months, both before and after heart surgery.
A few minutes before it was time for her to eat we got out the supplies. Tube, tape, baby, and a pacifier. We were ready. Christopher held her arms while I did the dirty work. The worst part was the look on her face.
Her eyes looked surprised, like she was saying, “It’s one thing for the nurses to do this to me, but my own parents?”
Actually, watching her little face was the worst part. The ng went in easier than I thought it would, and we did better than I thought we would. The biggest lesson we learned didn’t have much to do with inserting an ng tube. It was that sometimes we have to do things that aren’t pretty, but that are in the best interest of Bekah.
Read the rest of Sarah and Rebekah’s story through her blog, Following Your Heart.
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