This post is about poo, or rather, the lack thereof. Consider yourself warned.
Ever since we started solids with Lily at around 5.5 months, she has had some ongoing issues with poo. Constipation often goes hand in hand with starting solids, so this was no surprise at first. We usually cleared it up with prune juice, warm baths and massages. It never really lasted more than 3 days at a time.
As she grew, she would occasionally suffer bouts of constipation, especially during a food strike or, more accurately, a fruit strike, which she goes through about a week out of every month. She just doesn't like sweet things and on occasion, fruit is considered to be as distasteful as lollies and chocolates are the rest of the time.
Now that she is almost two, Lily eats very well most of the time. She will taste everything put in front of her, even if it's being introduced for the first time. Her diet includes sushi, curry, soups, pasta, rice, meats, fish, cheese. ANYTHING the average family eats, Lily has enjoyed at some point. She does like McDonalds, especially the chips and "bikkies", which is just her general word for sweet and savoury biscuits of all kinds but her favourite foods are vegetables. Broccoli, corn, potato, pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, peas. They invariably disappear first at meal time and she has been known to knock back a whole plate of dinner because the meal failed to feature broccoli. She also eats a lot of whole grains, her favourite breakfast being organic peanut butter (tastes to me like pre chewed peanuts, but she loves it)on multigrain toast and apple slices. She drinks water like it's going out of style and normally eats at least a little bit at each meal. So why and how she gets constipated is beyond me.
But she does and this week was the worst ever bout she has suffered.
I'm pretty sure she had a dirty nappy Monday, but from Tuesday, there was no movement at the station. She got increasingly grumpy, restless, unable to sleep and was refusing to eat. On Saturday lunch time, she cried and strained, but nothing happened. By Saturday dinner she was trying to go again. Screaming, refusing to eat her dinner, sweating and straining. We decided to Dr Google it and felt the best course of action, as our GP was closed, was a warm bath. But when Bob took her nappy off, she had a swear of jelly like stuff that definitely had a bit of blood in it. And if we touched her belly or bottom, she would scream and shove our hands away. So I called the free health nurse line and she said she'd transfer us to a doctor, but felt we'd need to see a doctor that night. The doctor we spoke to agreed.
I dispatched Bob to the Gosford Hospital emergency room at 8:30pm with a bag of toys, books and colouring in the size and weight of Lily and stayed home with Archer, anxiously cleaning and tidying, trying to keep myself busying and not worried.
They finally arrived home at 11:30 and Lily was relieved. She had been given a gel suppository and had passed a blockage roughly the dimensions of a golf ball and then a large normal poo. When I scooped her up as she came delightedly running in the door, she felt lighter. Bob said, shoes on, pre poo she had weighed 13kg. I would say she had easily shed 500g or more. It was like the feeling you get when you pick up a baby when you're used to carrying a toddler around.
And today, although tired, she has been back to being her usual sunny self, eating homemade raspberry pancakes, apple slices and sultanas at breakfast, potato and leek soup for lunch and butter chicken, rice and vegetables for dinner.
I felt really bad for her, but the doctor confirmed we aren't doing anything wrong in what she eats and drinks and said next time just to try a child laxative before it gets so bad.
To celebrate, Archer had his first nappy blow out in months. Hooray for poo.
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