Sweet, sweet sleep!

They say that when you have a newborn baby that you should sleep when he sleeps. So, although I have no newborn baby, I have been trying to grab a catnap once or twice a day after I feed Zaccheus.

So yesterday I woke up from one of these little breaks to find Hailey sitting in the floor with her back to me. I just knew she had gotten that puppy out of his bed and was holding him. She is not supposed to do this, so I said, "Hailey, why are you holding him?"

She turned around, and then I saw...

"Mom, I thought you would like a break, so I decided to feed him for you."

*groan*

Before I had to go to tube feeding him, she would take the occasional meal to give me a break. But since then, I have done all the feedings. It is kind of a delicate procedure.

If he is swallowing well, I just let him suck on my finger and gently slide the tube in next to it. So he thinks my finger is his nipple. But if he is tired or swallowing weakly, or if I am in a situation where I need him to not get it in his nose, I slide the tube down his throat.

This is not a job for a ten-year-old.

But when I walked in on her feeding him, she was doing a great job! I sat down with her and let her finish what she was doing. She handled him very gently.

Later I asked her how she knew when to feed him, and with all the attitude, (but minus the word, "Duh!") she replied, "Mom, you fed him two hours ago!"

So this morning I let her take the 7:00 feeding so I could get two segments of sleep in a row. But she did me one better. She took the 9:00 feeding as well. I woke up at 9:30, and he was sweetly sleeping with a full belly.

Thank you, sweet girl!

I'm proud of my budding little veterinary!