Poop

My babies are sick.

Ugh.

It. Sucks.

A lot.

Ruby has been sick with a fever and now with a bad cough. Kai is in the middle of a pooping strike (he has Encropesis) and he has been home all week from school as we try to flush out his system.

I feel bad for Ruby because she hasn't had a fever or a bad cough before, but I know she will be better in a few days. Let's face it, this is the way her immune system will be mighty strong one. She is going to be just fine.

With Kai, it's so much harder. First, poop has become such a huge issue around here. I'm tired of talking about poop, wiping poop, wishing for poop, and praising poop. I wish we didn't even have to poop.

You probably wish you weren't reading about poop.

So, you should stop now. Since I'm going to write more about it....

I talk frequently to our pediatrician and we have had tests and x-rays. Plus, our lovely cranio-sacral therapist is trying to work her magic on Kai and his bowels. We have seen a gastro-intestinal specialist, a child therapist, and a chiropractor. We really, really want to stop talking about poop.

But, it continues and I know the one thing that helps is for me to let go of any expectations (of poop and Kai) and just remain neutral in our poop-land. I repeat to myself throughout the day, "I am Switzerland " and "When Kai graduates from high school, I will hardly even remember this struggle." I am learning more about encropresis and know that this isn't a behavioral issue, but rather a real physical issue (the large intestine becomes stretched when costipated and well...I could go on and on, but are you really interested?). We are in the process of helping Kai and his body re-learn healthy poop routines. After Ruby was born, it was terrible. We had a very hard poopy summer. But, then this Fall, things got better. Now, we are back to poopalooza. It's going to get better again. Right? Promise me.

But, I'm trying to keep my sense of humor. I leave you with a giggle:

On the way to our appointment today with our cranio-sacral therapist (named Maria), Kai announced:

"MOM-- GUESS WHAT? Maria and diarrhea rhyme. How cool is that?"

Yes, we even have our own poop humor. I laughed so hard I was snorting.

P.S. Please forgive me Kai if you are reading this when you are older and wonder why your Mom had to post this on her blog. I consider this blog to be like your baby book and I also want it to be the real account of our crazy life, not just a fluffy one. I assure you that no one even remembers this anymore :)