Weekend Emergencies

When you have a child you will have some emergency situations in your life.  When you have a child with special accessories you are gauranteed to have some emergencies...all in the same weekend...maybe even when you are by yourself.

Saturday:  All is good. I gave Lydia a bath after her 9am feeding finished.  We were hanging out on the blanket in the living room putting lotion on, cleaning her MIC-KEY button, changing her  trach gauze.  I pull the old trach gauze, turn and put it in the trash, turn back and Lydia has both hands wrapped around her trach and pulls it right out.

Shit!

Second 1: panic
Second 2: undo current trach tie and toss out of way
Second 3 and 4: jump up and grab trach off her crib
Second 5 and 6: fumble to open the bag
Second 7: grab the tube of lube
Second 8: lube up the trach
Second 9 and 10 and 11: man handle my kid so I can expose her tiny neck and see her stoma without all the usual trach change props
Second 12 and 13: place the trach and pull the obturator
Second 14 and 15 and 16 and maybe 17: fasten the ties
Second 18 and about 5 to 10 minutes after: hold my baby who is perfectly happy now while my hands stop shaking

Sunday: All is good. Lydia is cat napping on her boppy pillow in her crib while her 6pm feeding runs.  We're watching TV and having dinner.  She wakes up, feeding is over, change a diaper, she's playing and kicking and happy.  I get her out of her crib at about 8:40 to get her monitors on her for bedtime. Her outfit is soaked. Huh.  Put her on the changing table, undo the snaps, and there her MIC-KEY button is, laying on the outside of her, balloon and all.  Wait, that goes on the inside of her tummy.

Shit!

Second 1: panic
Second 2: Dan come here now.
Second 3: watch her
Second 4 and 5: retrieve new mic-key button
Second 5 thru about 12: retrieve syringe with 3 cc of water
Second 13: grab the lube
Second 14: lube up the button
Second 15: take a deep breath
Second 16: exhale
Second 17: insert the button
Second 18 and 19: fill the balloon with water
Second 20: rotate the button to check for tightness
Second 21: watch my baby smile and kick on the changing table
Second 22 thru 25: put my head down on the changing table and exhale
Second 26: check for shaking hands...barely shaking this time

Shit!

A few minutes later Dan asks, do we need to let the doctor or anybody know that came out? Nope, that's just normal kid with accessories stuff, I'll order a new spare tomorrow.

Well, at least I know I can trach change by myself if I have to and I'm sure glad I remembered how to change that MIC-KEY from 2.5 months ago.

Oh, and all that in under one collective minute. I impressed myself. Maybe next time I can shave a few seconds off my time.  Yes, I'm sure there will be a next time.