New Hair, New Button

I always cut the boys hair, and Aaron asked me for a hair cut today so I thought I may as well do three at once. Harri was lucky and got out of it. Noah has been long overdue for a hair cut for a while. His is the worst to cut as he doesn't hold his head well. He always ends up with his hair shorter on the top and sides, and a mullet at the back as it is always hard to get to the back properly.

Today was no exception- he kept yelling and arching back (hasn't been happy on and off for a couple of weeks now), so in the end I gave up and left him with a bit of a mullet happening at the back. I will fix it when he is in the mood to stop arching back and is more relaxed. His hair is always hard to cut right anyway as he has a very small head, and if you cut it too short he looks really funny. Also after he has a hair cut, I find little pieces of hair on his seat on his wheelchair for weeks afterwards. It drives me mad.

As well as a new hair cut today he also got a new button in his tummy. We attach a feeding tube into the button whenever he needs a feed or meds. They then go straight into his tummy. The button has been leaking for a few days, so I knew it was ready for a change. We used to have to take him up to the day ward at the hospital to get it changed, but after a lot of nagging from me, they finally agreed (no doubt to just shut me up!) to let me change it on my own. They also had to order in a different type of button just for Noah as I hated the other one we used to have, as it would leak pretty much straight away. The type we get now lasts a lot longer.

The hole left in his tummy, when the old button is taken out

Every time I change it, Noah thinks it is really funny. Hopefully this one will last for a while, before we have to change it again. It is very easy to change , but Noah goes through them pretty fast (every 3 months or so) because of the amount of meds he has, and also because he vomits a lot which puts pressure on the valve. Supposedly they are supposed to last between 6-12 months. Lucky we don't have to pay any out of pocket expenses for them as they are about $400 each!

The new button in, and the old one sitting next to it.

Last time I changed it we took photos and Noah shared it for news at school. All the kids thought it was great seeing a big hole in Noah's tummy! They got a good laugh out of it. They would have laughed tonight as when he just had the hole open he sat up a little bit and air came out of his tummy and made a little burping sound!