Oops, her button came out!

The week before we left for Hawaii, we had the unfortunate experience of having Lyla's feeding tube come out. It's called the Mic-key, or button, and the kids are usually really good with it. They know that they are to be careful, and are really good about watching out for her tubie. Here is a picture of what it looks like: It literally is like a little flip-top lid that provides access to her tummy! Anyway, the week before we were to be going, the kids and I ran some errands in the afternoon. Lyla fell asleep in the car while she was hooked up to a feed, and the kids were finishing up a movie, so I left them all in the car in the driveway while I took things out of the car and into the house. Well, it wasn't long before Abby came running into the house screaming. I had to calm her down before I could make out what she was sobbing about. She finally said clearly that Lyla's tubie came out. I ran out there to find the tubes with her button attached in her carseat, and Lyla on the seat of the bench next to that, just hanging out with a big hole exposed in her stomach! She was fine, in fact, she smiled at me when she saw me. But, Abby on the other hand, was hysterical. I guess that when I went inside, Lyla woke up and started crying, and Abby wanted to take her out of her carseat to calm her down. Abby has never done that before! And she didn't realize that she was hooked up to her pump, and while pulling her out of her seat, she tugged so hard on the line that it pulled the button right out! (The button is held in place by a water-filled balloon just inside her stomach wall. The balloon was still intact, and had just been squeezed out of the tiny hole that seals around the tube!) I felt terrible that it happened to Abby, and was trying really hard to make her realize that it wasn't her fault. She was just devastated and terrified that she had hurt her, and knew that it wasn't a good thing that her button was out. I still feel awful about it for Abby! Well, I figured that I needed to head up to the hospital to have them put it back in, so I sent the kids to the neighbors and got back in the car. On the way I called her GI doctor. It was after office hours so it went through to the exchange. The woman answered the call and asked how she could help me, and I said, "My daughter's button has come out." She replied, "Her belly button?" (what?!!!) I started laughing for a few seconds before I realized that she didn't think it was very funny! I was quite amused, though, because really, have you ever heard of someone's belly button falling out? I started to feel bad because I'm sure she doesn't know much about the kinds of calls that would be coming into a GI office, so I explained to her what the situation was. The doctor called me back and told me to try and put it back in by myself. So, I turned around and went back to my friends house, where I knew another girlfriend was visiting, and I made them stay by me while I tried to stick the thing back into her belly. I couldn't get it in, so I ended up having to go to the emergency room, where they put a temporary tube in. We had to wait until after Hawaii before we got a replacement button for her.......not a new belly button mind you, but a new feeding tube button!!!