Today Noah saw a pediatric gastroenterologist.
It was no surprise when she told us he was full of shit.
Well, maybe she didn't use those exact words.
He has "functional constipation." Also, no surprise. We have been dealing with this for years.
So the plan is to really clean him out, which means 3 to 5 days of daily enemas, plus oral stool softeners and stimulants, in addition to the fiber gummies and Mirilax that he already takes.
After he is really clean we then get to try and keep him pooping every day.
He has never been an every day pooper, but we have also not been successful in getting and keeping him regular with any consistency. Rich and I agree though, that its time to turn Noah into a Super Pooper.
Right now the poor kids rectum is so stretched out that the normal sensation that goes to the brain to tell you you have to poop isn't working. So even when he's literally "full of shit" he doesn't feel the urge to go.
Add that to his developmental delays and general poor body awareness, and it makes sense that he doesn't connect stomach cramps or pain with needing to poop.
And the part that frustrates me the most, although I'm really trying to stay patient, is that even when we remind him over and over that just because he doesn't feel it, he still has to try and poop. Some how we need to get him to understand and remember because when his belly button is sticking out like a pop up turkey timer, it means he waited too long.
Tonight Rich and I will be out for a couple hours at karate (promotional workout tonight - new belts for both of us) so instead of leaving the baby sitter with the after effects of an enema, I think we will wait to do that until tomorrow. I pay our baby sitter well, but asking her to do that is a bit outside the job description.
Been there, done that, got the the tshirt, hope it works, open to poop talk anytime!
ReplyDeleteAny advice on how to make the enema less traumatic for all of us? I anticipate serious resistance on his part.
ReplyDeleteOh my... I wish you lots of luck, patience, cleaning supplies etc.
ReplyDeleteWe dealt with "typical" toddler poop issues with Car.sten but he seems to be finally over it! Now Al.ex has had some regression, but it's due to his poor diet (severe food aversions due to textures etc) causing constipation... oh I long for a day when poop is not the topic of the day.