Almost as soon as we got home and walked through the door, Tom happened to Skype. Within 30 seconds, Owen told me he had to poop! WOOHOO! So all three of us went in the bathroom (yes, Tom came with us) and…OWEN POOPED! It was still all water but he did it all on his own!!! I was amazed, really.
As we were both praising him, he gets off the potty, points to his mouth, then points to the toilet. Huh? I didn’t think much of it because he has a recent habit of being silent while mouthing words and pointing. But then he leaned over and barfed. Again and again.
One one hand…WHAT?!?!
On the other…YAY!!! He finally realized what was coming and actually remembered that we told him to barf in the toilet!
So Tom got to watch him barf from halfway around the world! And I didn’t have anything to clean up!
Owen: Can you wipe my face?
I’m pretty sure it was just the pizza plus the milk he had when he got home. I guess I should have given him lighter fare for at least a day or so.
I heard Owen get up at least once to potty during the night and I was up myself at 5:30 but then we both slept in until 7! Wheee! Sadly, it was probably the best I’ve slept in awhile, the uncomfy bed notwithstanding.
We got introduced to our new nurse at shift change about 7:30 and it was funny—she said, “Hi, I’m Sarah, and I’ll be your nurse today…for a few minutes.” 🙂 She came back about 7:45 to remove his port and discharge us. Owen got special new Ninjago underwear for the day.
Then it was down the elevator! Also, notice the rug. 🙂
Walking out, he says “That was fun!”
Wait. What? He obviously was only remembering the past nine hours during which he was sleeping and watching TV…and not all the crying and whining and tubes and needles and general crankiness and pooping over the past two days.
On the way to the car I tried to have a conversation with him about how pooping was really important and how he really needed to keep up the good work so he didn’t end up back in the hospital…and he didn’t seem phased at all. I’m sure I’ll be having that conversation more than a few times in the coming weeks.
The only bad thing about getting discharged first thing was that I had been planning on going to Costco…but they didn’t open until 10. So I decided to waste time—we went to Trader Joes and Once Upon A Child. 🙂
Owen did pretty well [trying to] sleep with the lights and vital checks and trips to pee. I wasn’t super comfortable but it wasn’t awful. I turned my lights out at 10:30 and was up at 11:30, 12:30, 3:30, and 5:30—finally getting up for good about 6.
And even though he had strong doses of meds all night…he still didn’t poop (he did pee a few times). He’s a tough bugger, apparently. Or, rather, his poop is the tough bugger. 🙂
He spit up at about 6:15 but it was just phlegm. I had to call the nurse so we could change the bed and get him into a gown. His B also got a little wet so I just threw it in the Family Lounge dryer (I was going to pack an extra B and forgot). Bad mom.
An upset stomach (nausea) can be a side effect of too many meds, so they turned them down (they had been up to the max level). Then he vomited at 7:15 and the tube came out. Ugh. Which means we likely have to go through that torture again. We’re waiting to hear the official next step—though I’m sure it means the tube goes back in because he still needs the meds to poop. 🙁
At least I don’t feel bad for being unsuccessful with the Miralax regimen at home—if they can’t get things going with serious drugs over 12 hours…what hope did I have?
Yep. Another tube. And an enema. Joy.
But before that happens, here’s a happy Owen, cleaned up and in his second gown of the day.
“Mom, I’m gonna lay like this. This is great!”
Of course he’s happy now—he doesn’t know what’s coming. 🙁
Nurse: [Grabbing Owen’s toe.] I think I’m gonna eat this.
Owen: No! I need it! [Taps his toe on the bed.]
Nurse: So I can’t eat it?
Owen: No, toes are for walking, not eating.
It was four hours before he got the second tube. FOUR HOURS. This is walking with the nurse to the treatment room.
This is getting the drugs via the port.
This is Owen on giggle drugs (Versed).
This is putting the tube in. It was a different tube and was done in under 30 seconds this time. Phew.
After he calmed down, they have to blow a puff of air through the tube to see if they can hear it in his belly. Owen wanted to listen, so they let him.
The same as yesterday, we had to wait for an X-ray to confirm tube placement. The air puff can be enough confirmation at some places but here they want to make absolutely sure.
The same as yesterday, he was a hot mess as the drugs wore off. Fine one moment, crying the next.
He wanted to see what he looked like:
It took FOREVER for the X-ray confirmation. So long, in fact—well, at least to me—that I completely forgot about it and panicked and called the nurse (and when I couldn’t get him, snagged the pediatric liaison in the hallway) saying he wasn’t connected to his medicine. I blame lack of sleep.
Tom Skyped in and Owen burst into tears and did NOT want to talk to him. After we hung up, Owen was sad he didn’t talk to him. But didn’t want to talk to him if he called back. Stinker.
Owen finally fell asleep about 1:30 so I ran down to grab a quick bite (and they had a volunteer sit with him in case he woke up while I was gone). Then I took a half hour nap, too.
He can’t easily get to his normal left-hand thumb, so he adjusted. 🙂
They RE-started his meds about 2:30 and planned on doing the enema once he woke up.
As a side note, there have been a few machine snafus—nothing life or death—just annoying.
Of course we get the wonky machine that beeps when you unplug it (it doesn’t hold its charge, apparently) so it starts beeping immediately. That’s nice…especially in the middle of the night. Or when Owen is napping and some other random steady beeps happen. I just push whatever button it’s requesting to shut it up—then go find the nurse.
And I have yet to ask about the nurse call button. No one ever shows up when I press it. Luckily there’s not been a real emergency and I can find someone at the nurses station. (I’m not talking doesn’t show up immediately. I’m talking doesn’t show up after three calls in 15 minutes.)
So…turns out I was using the call buttons on the bed when I was suppose to be using the one on the remote. Yeah, that wasn’t told to me, even when I was talking to the first nurse the first night (about telling Owen not to push that one for fun). I asked some random nurse who was standing outside our room and she cleared it up for me. I used the right button and someone answered in a minute.
Which, oh yeah, Owen pooped! Just a mere 21 hours after starting the meds and 26 hours after being admitted. Hallelujah.
But of course he didn’t go on his own. I had to practically beg him to “just try.” Which he finally did…and then let loose. Yay! But he wasn’t happy—he was crying and drooling. 🙁 I assured him it was okay and that’s what we wanted to happen!! I’m hoping that means we won’t need to do the enema.
He had to pee about a half hour later so I said “Let’s try to poop since we’re already here.” More whining and crying. I almost had to force him on the toilet. Once there? More poop. I just can’t understand how he can hold that all in without feeling uncomfortable or like he’s got to go!
When the nurse finally made it in (he had been admitting a new patient) he was thrilled at Owen’s pooping and agreed we’d hold off on the enema. He said he’d have Owen try to poop while I went to grab dinner.
On the way down, I actually noticed the mat in the elevator. I’ve been in it at least four times since we got here.
When I got back from dinner, I found out from our awesome male nurse that Owen call(s)(ed) him a doctor because he’s male. This is odd because Owen’s pediatrician is a woman (but his GI specialist is a man…) so it looks like we need to have a little talk. Rodney got a kick out of it regardless. 🙂
As we were just sitting there:
Owen: I don’t like needles.
Me: Well you’re done with shots.
Owen: Phhhheeeewwww!! Complete with hand wiping across forehead move.
Me: [Laughing]
So I made Owen poop four more times and the last three were (for all purposes) clear so we’re just waiting on the final word from the doc to get the last X-ray! And he’s already off the meds!
If it was any earlier we’d get to go home tonight…but since it’s a bit of a drive we’ll stay and try to sleep and check out first thing in the morning. (Had he not barfed up the first tube, we’d be about SEVEN hours earlier in this process and surely headed home tonight.)
At 9:30 he was given a clean bill of health—and the okay to eat! Of course, I hadn’t brought ANY snacks (I assumed we’d just eat after he was discharged) but the vending machine had his favorite crackers!! So he was a happy boy!
And the tube should be coming out shortly! (I just wish that part wasn’t taking so long because it’s already WAY past his bedtime (it’s currently 9:45). I know this situation is a bit unusual, but still.)
The doc said he’d cancel the nightly vitals checks so hopefully we can both get some decent sleep…and when the nurse came to take the tube out a little after 10, she said fluids were done, too! YAY! So now at least if he has to pee, he can do it alone (though of course I’ll still hear him). He was excited that he could now potty alone. He still has the port in just in case.
But oh. Taking the tube out. He screeched and cried so much while she was just taking the tape off I was flabbergasted. I mean, I’m sure it didn’t feel great, but I thought his reaction was way overboard…which I blamed on him being overtired. The actual tube removal was nothing in comparison and he about ripped it out himself.
So…an eventful day. Hell, two days. Overall I’d have to say it went much better than I thought. And I really hope we never have to do it again.
The hospital finally called about 10:30 and my sitter came over and even though I was mostly packed and prepped, we didn’t leave until noon (and that included turning around—thankfully before we left the subdivision—to get his B that he forgot to grab).
They weighed and measured him—holy
cow! He’s at 59.8# and 46″ tall!
Just chilling, waiting.
You can see where I get to sleep in the background.
Once he was watching TV he was okay…but he did keep asking for snacks. Poor kid…the last thing he ate was cereal for breakfast. I was going to give him a snack on the way then forgot…and of course all he can have is clear liquids.
I talked to the doctor and she’s really nice. Gave her the quick run through on his status. Of course, the past few days—that he’s been completely off Miralax—he’s pooped just fine…so I was thinking the Miralax was the issue. But…he had pooping issues before the Miralax so we really need to do this to make sure we’re starting from scratch. The doc agreed, saying the X-ray would, of course, show us what was going on.
Getting the X-ray—it came right to us!
Then it was more waiting. And then the doc came and said “Oh yes. He needs it.” She took me back to see the X-ray. She said it’s not that bad, but you can definitely see it in the lower part of his intestine. So I went back and explained to Owen that the picture showed he had lots of poop in his body—and he wanted to see it. So I took him down to see it and the doctor explained it to him as well. By the time I finished talking to the doctor I came back to see this:
Yeah, he loves the adjustable bed. 🙂
Then he was playing doctor with his patients. He diagnosed the turtle with something-I-couldn’t-decipher-poopinosis. Thank you, Doc McStuffins. 🙂
Then. Unfortunately, it was time for the blood draw and tube down the nose. He was a rock star with the blood…
And LOVED his special Spider-Man webbing…
And then they started the drugs. And it was hilarious seeing him loopy.
But then the torture began. Three people holding him down (while he was wrapped in a cocoon) while one nurse tried to insert the tube. And she couldn’t get it. She tried twice. Then another nurse tried. Then they went to a smaller, shorter tube—which went really quickly, but he was already through the roof. Poor kid.
Then back in the room he was a hot mess. Part of it was the meds, but most of it was just him not being comfortable or having any fun. He didn’t want his B, the TV, a movie, or any of his prizes. He didn’t want me to sit with him. He didn’t want dinner (which is good since he can’t have any).
The hardest part is he’d be calm one minute then crying the next saying “I don’t want this [the port in his arm] anymore.” Or “Can I take this [the tube] out now?”
One of his calm moments watching TV:
Then he’d ask to see what was on his face so I’d show him and/or take a picture.
Everyone has been nice and the place is quiet, but there’s a lot of waiting. At our 3.5 hour mark (after arrival), he still wasn’t even getting the stuff to make him poop. I know there’s a process…but I wanted it to go faster. 🙁
This is where he landed since he didn’t want to be in his bed.
He actually told me to take a picture!
Then they delivered his “clear liquids” dinner. I got him excited about the “orange ice cream” but he didn’t like it. And of course he said no to trying jello and broth. And I knew he wouldn’t like the tea or cranberry juice. Since I was starving I had the broth (my only option for food on a Sunday night is in the main hospital—and I’m not sure I want to leave him alone…and I forgot to bring snacks). I also tried the orange italian dessert and honestly can’t blame him for not liking it. The lemon jello wasn’t thrilling, either.
Then they came back to take another X-ray to make sure the tube was in correctly (it was).
So while I was trying to work on this blog post, I kept getting errors. Come to find out:
SERIOUSLY? Adult and pornography? I called the number and didn’t get anywhere. The guy couldn’t do anything (he said “it’s Sunday—no one is here”). And he had no idea if anyone would do anything anyway. So, so much for using free wifi. 😐
Owen finally asked for some juice about 6—then drank an apple and grape juice—then seemed in better spirits. I “took a walk” to check out the vending machines and ended up with cheese crackers. I guess that’s dinner. Though I did check out the cafe menu for tomorrow…and I’m definitely eating there. 🙂
After about an hour or so, Owen announced he wasn’t cranky anymore. 🙂 And then he had more fun playing with the bed and was just watching TV.
They started the IV about 7 and when he wasn’t pooping by 9 they increased the medicine. As we’re going to bed now (9:30) he still hasn’t pooped…so I anticipate a sleepless and messy night.
Yeah, speaking of being here overnight…there’s no way I could NOT stay overnight (I laugh now that I was even considering it). And obviously no one is in the room with him aside from me—plus he has to drag the IV with him—so I’ll be doing all that. Which I’m fine with…but they should really tell you that beforehand. Of course I’ll have zero problems paging the Nurse if there are any messes. 🙂 (But she told me to page her when he gets up so she can take his vitals then instead of waking him up.)
So, two cute stories:
I needed to hit the vending machines earlier so I made sure Owen was okay that I was leaving for a few minutes. Sure, no problem. A little while later I told him I “needed to go for a walk to stretch my legs” (which really meant another trip to the vending machine) and he says “Don’t be a stranger!” Where does he get this stuff?! 🙂
He loved his Spider-Man web hand, but wanted to take it off since it was interfering with him holding his juice. So we took it off but then he had to go potty. Well, somehow, in the 10′ round trip between the bed and toilet we lost the glove. I searched but it was nowhere! So I had to hunt down a nurse to ask for more webbing.
Nurse: Oh, does he need it for his IV?
Me: No, he lost his Spider-Man hand.
Nurse, chuckling: Ahhh! No problem.
Today was Owen’s four-month check up with the pediatric GI. Unfortunately, we really haven’t seen much progress.
He’ll have good days and bad days, but pretty much every day he still has poopy underwear. Some of it is a matter of him not wanting to poop (which he admits) and trying to hold it in, but some of it is still the liquidy stuff that I don’t think he can control—which would mean he’s still backed up (impacted). But since he does seem to poop quite a bit (quantity-wise) I just couldn’t fathom that he was still backed up. Also, it seemed to me that when he has normal poops (i.e. not the soft squishy stuff) he has no problem going—he knows he needs to go and he goes and it’s perfect. We gave up on the daily mineral oil after the first few days because it just gave him diarrhea every single day (which is NOT what it was supposed to do).
So in talking with the doc and telling him everything…he said he thinks that Owen is still impacted. Especially when he asked if I felt that Owen was really ever fully cleaned out (like when we did the 8-hour no-food clean out)—like did he ever just get down to pure watery poops—and I said no. He asked if the semi-regular clean-outs after that were any better (we’ve been doing a semi-clean out about every three weeks) and I said no. So he said that if it was HIS son and he was at the four-month mark with no real progress, he would admit him for a hospitalized clean-out. Which could take anywhere from 3-5 days. IN WILMINGTON.
Hospitalization may sound awful, but he assured me they do A TON of them and it’s really no big deal. Some of the worst cases he’s seen? They remove 10# of poop from the kid! He doesn’t think Owen is that bad, but he thinks it’s the best bet to make sure we’re basically starting with a clean slate so-to-speak. He also warned that it isn’t the magic solution, though it can work wonders and a lot of parents said it was a miracle and wished they’d done it sooner. Of course, it won’t help with his emotional issues about not WANTING to poop, but at least we know we’ll be starting from scratch.
At this point, I’m game to try ANYTHING so I said of course we’ll do that. They said they can pretty much get us in whenever, so I just had to figure out Katie care since she can’t stay there with us. I can also stay overnight, but I don’t need to so if I think he’ll be okay then he can stay by himself.
Of course Owen was there listening to all of this and I was worried he would be freaked out or would refuse to go or would have a meltdown…but the doctor said “Kids don’t mind it at all! They can watch TV, movies, and play XBOX games!” Owen’s ears perked up. The doc asked if Owen would mind going to the hospital and he said no—and he actually wanted to go right then and didn’t understand why he couldn’t. 🙂
So I contacted my sitter (the same one we used when we went away for the weekend) because I know her summer nannying job is over, and she said she can do it…so tomorrow I have to call to schedule. I’m hoping for Sunday because I have a dinner outing planned Thursday, an old friend (one of my high school classmates) coming in from out of town Friday morning, and a birthday party and BBQ to go to Saturday. Then just hope it only takes two days and not four or five.
So, let’s just say there was a MAJOR poop incident tonight that should NOT have happened because he’s old enough and smart enough to know better. As he was in the bath and we were talking about it and discussing future punishments if it happened again…it went like this:
Me: If this happens again, we will take away your Legos for a week.
Owen: And if you take them away again…it would be…subtraction.
I was stunned into momentarily silence because that was NOT what I was expecting him to say but he WAS technically right. Stinker. I tried to keep from laughing but I did chuckle.
Me: You’re absolutely right. That would be subtraction.
Owen: 🙂
So, Owen has had loose (but still somewhat formed) stools for a day or so, culminating in full-fledged diarrhea today. It’s hard for me to tell what should be normal since he is on a prescribed daily regiment of Miralax, Activia, and mineral oil.
You’d immediately think one of those three things (or the combo) was the cause…but he’s been taking the Miralax and Activia for almost three months now. And adding the mineral oil shouldn’t have that effect (I asked the doc what it would do because I was worried about diarrhea and he said just make it easier to get rid of…he specifically said it wouldn’t cause diarrhea)…but even if it was he’s been on that for a week and I’d think it would have happened before now?!
So I thought about discontinuing the mineral oil and just seeing what happens—he seemed to be doing fine without the oil the first 6 weeks but the doc really wanted him on it. But then I actually looked up mineral oil and of course…yes, it can cause diarrhea in some people. And of course that would be Owen. 😐
So I’m obviously stopping the mineral oil…and I hope things, um, firm up by the time we leave for our 900 mile two-day road trip.
Today was Owen’s six-week follow-up. Here, he’s being a good big boy getting his blood pressure and temperature taken.
Overall the doc said he was doing well, and assured me—after I expressed concern that we had one perfect week then completely regressed—that it was normal. He informed me that it could take (and usually takes) as long to fix the problem as it took to cause it…which gives us many many many more months of this.
So I figured it was time for an Owen poop update. Unfortunately it’s not great news.
Since his initial appointment, we had one—ONE!—good week of Owen pooping by himself in the potty…meaning knowing he had to go, stopping what he was doing to poop (even coming in from playing!), clean underwear most of the time (rarely any skids, even!), earning Legos on an almost hourly basis…
Then it all turned to shit again (pun intended) and after two weeks of shit-filled underwear/pull-ups I am (once again) at my wits end.
I just don’t get how he could make the change so easily—be doing everything PERFECTLY—then apparently some inner flip switches and he decides You know what? I’m not going to do that anymore and I’m going to pretend like I have no clue what’s going on.
Sometimes we catch a lucky break and he actually poops in the toilet after we tell him to go in there (but not always). We have tried the every-hour-on-the-hour method…to no avail. He won’t even tell us he has pooped his pants.
So, that week he was being awesome? It was amazing. I was so happy and had zero stress and life was great and thought Yes! This is what life should be like! Ahhh! Yeah, that was apparently the kiss of death. Now, unfortunately, the urge to strangle him is back.
But I guess at least he’s pooping and not backed up. Small consolation. 🙁
I can’t wait to hear what the doc has to say at our next appointment. I’m guessing his job is done (for the most part) because Owen is no longer backed up and IS pooping.
Owen told me “Happy Mother’s Day” when I woke up—and I got a hug! Then, Tom gave me this…Owen actually colored some of it (!) and signed his name.
Then Tom made my breakfast request: Bisquick pancakes (they aren’t his favorite so we don’t have them all the time) with sausage links.
Then Owen decided to give me a very special mother’s day present by pooping in his underwear. 😐 He has been SOOOOO good with pooping in the potty…letting us know when he has to go, coming in from playing to go poop, not even needing the balloon, etc…so we’re not exactly sure what happened today. And then it happened again, later. GRRRR.
Then we ended up having friends over for dinner, so half of my day was spent cleaning up and making dinner…but it ended with a good time with friends.
So Owen was playing outside in his underwear and it reminded me of when he started potty training and was wearing underwear for the first time… So wow—look at the difference between then (September 1, 2012) and now (April 30, 2013):
For the past few days my left knee has been a little sore and has felt like it just needs to crack and I wondered what I did to it…but today I had the AHA moment.
Yep, it’s messed up from kneeling on the (ceramic tiled) bathroom floor multiple times a day (at five minutes a pop) for almost two weeks while Owen poops. 😐
The bathroom is too small for a chair. The stool is uncomfortable (it hurts my butt plus there’s not that much room so getting up and down is hard plus getting up and down is hard enough at almost-40). So it looks like I get to stand…which doesn’t sound bad but really gets old and tiring FAST.
I’ve started calling it my Poop Knee. Think it will catch on?
So in the meantime, I’m walking almost with a limp, it STILL feels like it has to crack OR that it might just give out on me at any random moment, and I’m taking anti-inflammatories.
But the good news is that he’s pooping!!!!
EDITED TO ADD:
A friend asked why I don’t just sit outside the bathroom?
Well, we might get to that stage, but remember he is blowing balloons to “help” the process along. Which still doesn’t require me to be close…except he’s learned that if you blow hard enough and let go, the balloon takes flight and it’s HILARIOUS. If I want him to stay on the toilet I have to hand it back to him. Lather, rinse, repeat.
He IS getting better (even trying without the use of the balloon) but I still need to be close enough for SOME balloon retrieval and verbal prompting… I watch him closely and I think a lot of the time if I wasn’t right there reminding him he’d just end up sitting there halfway trying and not REALLY trying.
So if we can get the balloon thing under control, I’ll be able to move away. Baby steps. 🙂
Otherwise known as “trying to poop on the potty” time. 🙂 This is what we do about 3-4 times a day.
And this is what we usually see under the door. Sometimes we let her in but of course she wants to be right in the middle of things so it’s easier to just keep her out.
Yeah, so, I just got locked in the bathroom with Owen while Katie was roaming around ungated. (I thought she was gated in but then I heard her playing with the dog bowl and knew she was on the loose.)
Talk about trying to stay calm in a panic.
How did it happen? Well, the door knobs were off from a kid-locking-herself-in-during-play-group-incident earlier that morning and I hadn’t put them back on yet (no, we were never given the little keys to unlock the doors—and we’d tried to find some to buy but just never did). So I didn’t even think about it when I shut the door behind me to keep Katie out while I dealt with a diarrhea pull-up.
Talk about an instant all-over body sweat.
Okay. I can’t get the door open. Who do I call? Who is closest that might be home? I thought of any of the mommy group people who were just there but I knew the closest ones had kids napping…
Okay, I can get one pin out—if I can get them all I can take the door right off the hinges. Nope, the other two are stuck. Calling Tom was pointless since it would take him at least 45m to get home (and there’s not much he could do over the phone).
Who would know how to get the door off? Roger might, but he’s likely busy. Ursula—she could at least come get Katie and then—oh, duh—she could likely put the knob back on. So I called her and she wasn’t home (5m away) but was in town (15m) so as I was telling her what was going on I was still messing with the door and trying not to sound terribly panicked…when I somehow managed to move something just enough to allow me to open the door.
Ah.
Breathe.
Wipe the sweat off my forehead as I thank Ursula for answering her phone.
Then race to find Katie…who was happily playing in the playroom.
So the things I expected yesterday that didn’t happen…happened this morning as I was prepping to host play group.
Yeah, while I wasn’t looking, Owen was laying on the floor trying not to poop…and left a nice puddle of diarrhea on the carpet because it overflowed the pull-up. 😐
Then he was so messy he needed a quick wash and rinse, which meant Katie had to go to her crib and MY GOD you would have thought I set her in hot lava for all the screaming.
7:00—The first 4oz of “special water” took 30 minutes to drink with lots of nudging.
7:15—I showed Owen what his end-of-day treat would be if he was really good—he was EXCITED!
8:00—4oz in 20 minutes. Not bad.
9:00—And the tantrums start. He refuses to drink and wants to eat. Thankfully Katie came to the rescue and made him laugh by pulling everything off the shelf.
So once his mind was on to something else, he ended up drinking the juice pretty quickly.
10:00—“Mommy, why are you putting sugar in my juice?” But wow. He drank the juice in 10 minutes with no prompting!
10:00–11:00—Begging for a snack about every five minutes. “Please? Very very very very please?!” 🙁
11:00—4oz of juice gone in under 10 minutes. It looks like juice is the way to go. More requests for marshmallows. Yeah, who knows.
Noon—The juice disappeared instantly. “Mama I’m hungry! I’m very very hungry. I want something to eat!” 🙁
12:15—The first epic hunger meltdown. 🙁
12:30—Yet another typical poop (nothing explosive or messy yet!) but he went to the bathroom on his own…so he earned a Lego!
1:00—I think he inhaled the juice…but then had another epic hunger meltdown. I feel so horrible telling him he can’t eat. 🙁
2:00—More juice, more requests for snacks.
3:00—Nothing was really happening poop-wise which was kinda scary—I mean, NINE FULL DOSES of Miralax and he wasn’t pooping?! Plus he was STARVING and I wasn’t sure what to do next because the prescribed daily regimen was complete. So I called his doctor (the specialist we saw yesterday) and talked to an available doctor who told me to finish the Miralax dosing, start giving him half doses of the chocolate ex-lax (which will actually make him poop, as opposed to the Miralax just softening things up), feed him a light snack and dinner, and to call in the morning if he still wasn’t pooping.
And then he snacked on his favorite cheese crackers, pear slices, and juice. 🙂
3:30—He started pooping a little…but still nothing of the magnitude I expected.
4:00–4:45—The last special juice mix for the day. A few trips to the potty but still nothing much.
If this home remedy stuff doesn’t work, he may have to be hospitalized. 🙁
5:45—His first real success (two pieces about the size of limes)! Normally I’d be thinking we were done but there HAS to be lots more in there.
So…I haven’t been talking about it, but Owen is still having major poop(ing) issues. Everything from constipation to diarrhea. Lately we’ve been going through 5-7 pairs of underwear a day. 🙁
We’ve tried eliminating milk from his diet, he was tested for Celiac, we gave him probiotics…and nothing ever really seemed to help. So we scheduled an appointment with the GI specialist and it was this morning.
The diagnosis? He’s impacted. All the little peanut-buttery poops we’ve been getting is basically leakage because he has so much poop backed up that the soft stuff is all that will come out. (I’m sure it hasn’t been impacted the whole seven months…but it’s apparently been most of the time.)
So, we basically get to do colonoscopy prep without actually having the colonoscopy. A full dose of Miralax every hour from 8a–5pm and then a maintenance schedule of one full dose of Miralax every day PLUS Ex-Lax chocolates PLUS mineral oil PLUS as much of a high fiber diet as we can get him to eat PLUS sitting on the potty after each meal blowing up balloons (it mimics the action of pooping).
FOR SIX WEEKS. 😯
We basically have to retrain (and shrink) his colon while trying to teach him how to poop.
I can promise that tomorrow is NOT going to be fun for either of us. Nor is the following six weeks. But hopefully it will do some good… I’m hoping we’ll get back into undies fairly quickly.
So, then it was off to get him an X-ray and Tom met us there because of the whole no-kids-sitting-alone thing. Which Owen LOVED. 🙂
As far as him understanding what’s going on… He just knows he went to the doctor to see if we could fix his pooping. I explained what’s going to happen tomorrow (he has to drink lots of water and will be pooping a lot)…but who knows how much he really understands. 🙁
Owen has been earning Lego minifigs for pooping in the potty (instead of hiding and pooping) and tonight he actually got out of his bath to poop in the potty! This is him being excited right before he got his new Lego guy.
Owen REALLY needs to stop coming in our room at 0-dark-30 to announce he has to pee. And he doesn’t even just announce it—he has to get a response from me before he’ll go.
So, I’ve forgotten to mention that Owen has been wearing underwear—not pull-ups—during naps and staying dry (which earns him 15 minutes!). Yay! We also tell him that any time he has to pee, he can get out of bed…though he never has.
So after about a week of that, we asked if he wanted to try underwear at night (instead of pull-ups) and he said yes! And so far…he’s had all dry mornings!! So now we really only use pull-ups if we’re running lots of errands or might be in the car for a long time…but even then, we ask him what he wants to wear and he usually says underwear!
So this is all leading up to today, when—during his nap—he actually woke up, went to the bathroom to pee—then went back to bed!!!! YAY OWEN!!! A FIRST!!
I transferred all the toys and treats from his potty jar to the poop jar (since we’re done with potty rewards) and the first thing Owen said when he saw the empty jar was “Hey! Where did all the toys go?”
OWEN GOT OUT OF HIS BED TO PEE! It was only naptime and he had only been in there five minutes and his door was open…but it’s a start!
You see, we’ve been trying to teach him that if he has to pee, he can get out of bed…which has been an uphill battle since we kept him “locked” in his room for so long.
And in trying to do so, we’ve actually created a little monster—after we put him to bed, we’ll hear him get up and open his door. He’s not getting up to pee, though—he just goes back to bed. But often whines a little because a cat gets in and bothers him. (He doesn’t want the cat in there but apparently doesn’t understand that the door needs to stay closed to prevent that.)
And then one night last week he was up opening his door at 3am—and crying. And couldn’t tell me what was wrong. I put him back to bed, then did the same thing again at 3:30 and 4:30, when I finally laid with him for a bit.
So today was a good first step with him realizing he had to pee and actually getting up to do it!
Owen seems to be doing better, but only in the sense that he doesn’t give us underwear full of poop anymore. I think with the lesser dose of Miralax, the poop is harder to squeeze in between Christian bookstore.
LOL!!—I had to leave that Siri* transcription because it was hilarious. It should have read:
I think with the lesser dose of Miralax, the poop is harder and sticks in between his butt cheeks.
We have generally been catching him in time to sit him on the toilet…sometimes it falls out, sometimes he poops it out, and other times we wipe it out. But it’s much less of a mess overall, even if we have to use 10 wipes.
Also, we haven’t gotten mad or upset at all. He still doesn’t like us to check his butt, but things are going much better. Well, until today when he decided he wanted to try and wipe himself. /shudder/
One day at a time is still our motto…
*Siri is the intelligent personal iPhone assistant that I often use to transcribe long passages when I’m on my phone.
Or maybe I should say a zenpoop master? Or a poopzen master? Whatever you want to call it, I was it.
I was calm.
I was cool.
I was collected.
I promised Owen I wouldn’t yell at him again.
I told him it was okay if he pooped in his underwear (but I’d still like him to try to poop in the potty).
I told him he wouldn’t be in trouble.
You see, in talking about this whole ordeal with my mom friends, I came to the conclusion that the Miralax might actually be making it harder (in a sense) for him to poop successfully—since if it was making the stool too soft, he might not realize he had to poop and then OOPS before you know it, it’s there. And if he really isn’t able to control it, then OHMYGOD do I feel guilty about getting mad at him, you know? As a friend pointed out, he’s still learning what it takes to poop—especially since it’s different than pooping in a diaper, we’re guessing he had constipation and possibly pain issues, and now with the drugs it’s a different feeling/experience yet! Ugh, talk about mom guilt. 😥
Hence the zen master.
Luckily it was a pretty easy day so I wasn’t REALLY tested…but we still went through (I think) five pair of underwear. But there were no HUGE disasters, which I think can be attributed to A) him pooping quite a bit over the past two days and B) decreasing the Miralax dose (I’m hoping to hit on the magic amount that will make pooping easier but not create a holy mess).
I do feel bad for yelling but OH MY GOD…he pooped a huge poop IN HIS UNDERWEAR and didn’t tell me. So when I discover it and pull his undies down (in front of the toilet), it falls out on the carpet AND HE STEPS IN IT. So now it’s ground into the rug and in between his toes—and he does NOT like to be dirty so he was having an absolute fit. (No, I don’t understand why—if he doesn’t like to be dirty—he tolerates a poopy butt.)
And then I see he has poop smeared all up and down his legs, not even mentioning the five wipes-full still in his butt. All the while Katie is screaming because she’s hungry and I can’t do anything because I have to take care of him. About 30 wipes later (baby for him and cleaning for the bathroom) it was off to the tub because I just couldn’t get it all off with wipes. And then I had to clean the carpet. And wash poop out if his underwear. Then clean the sink.
The only cute part was him saying “Me and Katie are crying. We’re not happy.” I told him mommy wasn’t happy, either. 🙁
I am SO over this. I know I wanted him potty trained, but at this point I really wouldn’t care if he’s in diapers until high school. This is THE biggest pain in the ass and I hate it. HATE IT.
Of course, after the heat of the moment, he was fine and I was fine…but of course I felt horrible (and I did apologize to him for yelling).
I know I’m not a bad mom—and I know I shouldn’t have acted as I did—but after you’ve been dealing with this for this long (going on a month) it gets really old. And frustrating. And sometimes you just lose your shit.
All you can do is hope tomorrow will be a better day.
Well apparently Owen is pooping in the potty but refuses to admit it, even when we’re both looking at it. It’s not full poops, but rather the big squished pieces that basically fall out from between his cheeks…but they’re in the toilet so I’m happy! But I am flummoxed as to why he won’t admit it. He actually vehemently denies it (telling me “You’re not happy!” even though I tell him I’m very happy)…until I say we can go pick a toy. 😐
You know how I have said how huge Owen’s poops have been up until now? That they put US to shame? And how he hasn’t really pooped in over a week now?
Well he just pooped.
And it was honestly THE biggest poop I’ve EVER seen. Anywhere, anytime, anyone. Without having actually measured it, I’d say it was at least 10-12″ long. NO LIE. He was with Tom again (so I didn’t get to see the whole process) but he didn’t seem any worse for the wear—no crying or anything—by the time I got down there (Tom yelled for me to come check it out).
After we got all excited and Owen said “You happy? Mama happy now?” (YES!), I asked, “Don’t you feel better now?” And he said “MY HURT IS GONE!!”
Poor kid. 🙁
I guess we continue with the daily Miralax in hopes it works better now that he’s apparently cleaned out…and we don’t go another seven days without a poop.
