Two Months On

It’s been two months of seeing my baby’s face every single day. A whole two months. I touch her cheeks constantly and tell her how proud I am. I tell her how brave she is. That she proved everybody wrong. Because she did.

Before we started the tube-wean we were told by countless professionals that it was unlikely to work. A speech therapist told us it was just a box to tick before she would need surgery to insert a permanent g-tube. A feeding tube that would go directly through the wall of her abdomen into her stomach. The paediatrician told us she would eat when she was 4 or 5 but that we could ‘give a wean a go.’ Another speech therapist said a g-tube was a good next step for Frankie. Heck, she was on the surgical list for a g-tube. The dietician though, who has been with us from the very beginning, was the most optimistic of all. As we sat in the hospital cafeteria after yet another hospital stay I told her I didn’t want to put a g-tube in without giving Frankie the chance to try a tube-wean. Her response was simple…”what have we got to lose?”

Frankie has never followed the doctors’ rule books. She never did what was expected. In fact, even now, they still can’t explain why she vomited every day for 18 months. They told us she was unusual, different, unique. Most of the time they just said, “we all know Frankie does things her own way. She never does what we expect.” And you know what? That‘s one thing they were right about. Because it’s been two months of her eating. Of her not vomiting. And sure, her weight still absolutely terrifies me, but she also doesn’t have the g-tube we were so close to having put in. I literally had surgeons calling to tell me they’d put her on the list for the following week and I put them off, wanting to give a tube-wean a chance. And here we are. With the kid who surprises everybody, every single day.