Maggie was making such great strides in the NICU with bottle-feeding, or so it seemed. Some days she would do better than others, but for the most part, bottle-feeding made her incredibly tired and took a lot of effort from her.

After two “swallow study” tests where they take your baby into an exam room, have them drink liquid from a bottle, and see on an x-ray if baby aspirated on that liquid, she was labeled with “Oral Dysphasia”. Meaning she really didn’t know what to do with the bottle in her mouth, and was confused on how to suck, swallow and breathe at the same time.

By the time all other medical procedures are done and if eating by mouth is still the only thing baby hasn’t yet mastered, NICU doctors will push for some type of alternative which is usually done by NG tube or G-tube. There are other types of these feeding tubes as well such as NJ/D, GJ or just J. They’re a little more complex and my NICU in particular didn’t normally send babies home with an NG tube.

So Maggie had her g-tube procedure done and was home within five days afterwards. She recovered very well, but learning all the ins and outs of tube feeding has been a roller coaster. Not only that, but learning how to simply care for the g-tube site to avoid infections, granulation tissue, and other complications is difficult. It all takes practice and getting used to. Our online Facebook groups have been a huge and amazing resource for us.

There have been mixed reviews about using tube pads (cloth pads that wrap around/underneath the g-tube to protect the skin underneath). For some kids, they don’t work at all but for others they work super well. It’s important to remember to keep the site around the tube moist, clean and protected for a good month after being placed. Avoid overfishing, over-wiping, and harmful products such as hydrogen peroxide.

I only use saline wipes and split gauze plus Aquaphor. Maggie’s skin stayed extremely red and irritated until they switched out the plastic peg for an actual Mic-key button.