Happy February! It's Tube Feeding Awareness Week, so I thought that was a great excuse to share what's been going on in our little Tubie's world!

Hudson had his G tube placed in early December, and it took a little time for him and our family to adjust to the new tube. He ended up staying in the hospital for almost a week because the Drs and specialists were trying to find a solution for his frequent vomiting. We brought him home with some changes, including medicines to help with his motility and reflux, and an adapted overnight feeding plan. Hudson continues to receiving 4 feedings via feeding tube during the day, and one continuous feeding overnight for 8.5 hours. He is still getting this overnight feed, but we are currently in talks with his dietician about weaning him off in the future and steering toward a more "normal" feeding schedule for his adjusted age of 6.5 months. 

Though it took some time for everyone to adjust, Hudson is doing extremely well with his G-Tube! His vomiting has been resolved, aside from the few times he sticks his fingers too far into his mouth or swallows too much liquid when we're practicing drinking. He’s off all meds aside from one for blood pressure. It's been a completely new experience for us to enjoy Huddy without worrying about him puking all the time. It's given us so much more freedom to take him places, more time to play with and enjoy him, and more opportunities to work on his growth/strength. 

In addition to his G tube going well, we've also started giving Hudson purees, and he enjoys them! Bananas and sweet potatoes are his favorite, but we haven't tried anything yet that he's completely turned away! Fingers crossed that he won't be as picky as we assumed he'd be given all his feeding difficulties. We bring Huddy to feeding treatment every other week, where we focus on exposing him to positive oral experiences with liquids and solids. It's been exciting to see him enjoy eating and it makes us hopeful that the tube feeding is only temporary. 

We also bring Hudson to Physical Therapy at Masonic once a week, and see an Early Intervention OT through St Paul Public Schools twice a month. During these visits, we have been focusing on building his strength, since that is the area he's furthest behind in development. He's making great progress and it's fun to see what new things he can do every week. 

Huddy has some new headgear as well - he is rocking a jungle-themed helmet for the time being. It took some time to get the fit right, but now he barely notices it's there, and man, has it helped with his neck strength! He should only need it for 3-4 months, and we can already see a huge improvement on his head shape. Plus, babies in helmets are so darn cute!

In terms of his heart, Hudson has been doing well with his echos and cardiology check ups. We will continue to hold off on any cardiac procedures, as long as he's doing well and isn't showing any major symptoms from his VSD. He's currently about 15.5 lbs, and they want him to be at least 18-20 lbs for the next procedure. We are so thankful he's been doing well and are hopeful his next echo will show that his VSD starting to shrink. 

Outside of health/medical things - we are living life as normal as possible! Nick continues to work from home and will finally start taking his paternity leave to stay home a little with Huddy while I make it back into the classroom a few days a week. But kudos to aunt Sandy and Nana Carol who are also helping with Huddy care while I go to work!

We are shocked that Huddy will be 8 months old next week, and love watching his personality come out more and more! He is a pretty chill baby, but loves laughing at his dad and screaming just to hear his voice. Thank you for reading and keeping up with our little man!