The Poop Checker

*NOTE- Do not read this post if you are offended by poop talk! And if you are, get over it... everybody poops! ;)*

This post is about the poop issues Em has been having the last few months, but first a little back story on my title... 

When the original Ice Age movie came out (in 2002), my niece, Alex, LOVED it! (On a side note, Alex turned 12 today! I can't believe it! Happy Birthday, Ally-Poo!)  She especially loved the poop checker scene...

Alex went around and called everyone "poop checker"! Except my dad, who really did not care for it at all... old grump.

Anyway, last weekend Alex spent the night with us, and Emma was having a bout of diarrhea. After changing several poopy diapers in a row, Clinton and I were both sick of it. When we smelled that smell again, we were bickering over who would take care of it... and Alex piped up, "who's gonna be the poop checker?" It totally cracked me up! I can't believe she remembers that!

Makes me smile even now, but, back to the point...

Since before October (I can pinpoint a weekend in Oct, but I know it started earlier than that), Em has been having recurring issues with constipation and diarrhea. It all started with potty training... she started holding it...and it just spiraled from there.

I've tried all different types of home remedies and over the counter medications, but just haven't been able to get her better, umm, normal, ummm, what's the word here...regular! Ha!

I've put off taking her to the doctor about it, thinking they were going to tell me it was normal to have these problems, blah, blah. I did take her once, for another issue, and mentioned it, but didn't get far. I've called the nurse a couple of times but she just told me what I expected to hear.

Anyway, all last week, Em was constipated again. Then on Friday, she started with the diarrhea. A whole box of diapers later (not exaggerating), I called her regular doctor Tuesday morning.

He listened to me! Thank you, God! Thank you, Dr. B!

After feeling of her tummy, he decided to do an x-ray to see how backed up she was. (I, actually, couldn't believe the kid had ANYTHING in her system... 40 diapers worth of poop in less than 5 days! Not exaggerating!)

BTW- Em did FANTASTIC at the dr. office, by far the best she's EVER behaved! I was so proud of her!

The x-ray showed some "clumps" as Dr. B called it, but it wasn't as bad as he thought! BUT interestingly enough, it showed she has a misshapen large intestine! He said that was a big part of her problem.

He sketched it out for me...

On the left is what a normal large intestine should look like, and Em's is on the right...

This isn't serious, but it makes her problems make more sense! If she gets constipated, it'll be that much harder to fix because the poop can get stuck up there in that kink. Kink isn't a good word for it because it isn't closed off at all, but I can't think of a better way to describe it!

BTW- he told me he sees this misshapen bowel sometimes in really slender kids, so Em isn't abnormal or anything! He said it wouldn't hurt to plump her up some, so that the intestine can spread out some. :)

Anyway, NOW we have a plan of attack! We got some meds and a diet plan! It's going to take a while to get her regular (that phrase just makes me giggle for some reason!), but at least I feel like we are moving forward!

Ok, poop talk over! :)