We reserved an electrical site and brought the blender and a mini fridge ( thank you again Amy for that idea).
We could have made margaritas!
I measure out and labeled those throw away sippy cups so we could measure out X's formula and store it in the fridge. Then we threw away the cups so we didn't have to worry about having to clean the cups. The only things we needed to wash we're his feeding tubes and the blender. That was a little tricky, but we did it.
Not your typical looking camping picnic table, but it worked for us. Trying to measure out the formula into the cups with swarms of Mosquitos eating away at our hands and legs was less than pleasant. A screen tent is on our wish list now.
We used a bottle warmer by Bambinoz that is ingenious! It's a plastic thing filled with clear fluid (like a flexible ice pack). It has a little metal disc in it. We snapped the disc, the fluid turned cloudy and the pack turned solid and hot. We were able to keep the cups of formula warm for up to an hour in the insulated bag that came with it. Then, in the morning, we just placed the packs in boiling water to reset them and they were ready for the next night.
We recharged X's feeding pump at the electrical box during the day (that was a little nerve racking, having this expensive piece of medical equipment just sitting outside plugged into a post). Other than the cares of X's button, it was like a regular camping trip.
These boys are made to live outdoors.
(he does have shorts on). I love how he doesn't act like there is anything different about him. Children are amazing. They really are resilient.
He is eating raisins. Raisins!
What is it about sleeping children that is so perfect?
Camping was filled with the usual. S'mores, good food, hiking, swimming, climbing trees, and fun. It really wasn't any different than camping before. We actually skipped X's feeding the first night ( our GI doctor said we could skip all 3 nights if we wanted to....we didn't). And he had shortened feedings the other two nights ( he was only hooked up right when he went to bed until he woke up).
We only spilled the formula one night for the middle of the night feeding ( pouring a formula filled bottle into a small opening, with only the light of a flashlight was a little trickier than we thought...next time we'll bring a lantern). I was terrified a skunk or raccoon would try to get in because it smelled the formula ( have I ever mentioned how utterly nasty this stuff smells?). The tubing kinked up a lot as well, so that was a little annoying because this shrill beeping goes off. And I have to say that beep is about 20x louder in a tent.
It was definitely harder keeping the area around his button clean, and we are still dealing with the effects of that. I'll take care of that area differently next time we go camping ( I've agreed to go in the fall when there aren't any bugs).
Overall, it was a fun camping trip. The boys had a blast and it felt good knowing we were able to give X that experience.
Since we don't know how long X will need to have the feeding tube, I never want to tell him " no, you can't do that because you have a feeding tube". I don't mind saying "yes, you can do this, but we may have to do this a little differently". But I don't want to say "no, you can't". And so far, we've been able to do that. That makes me smile.
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