Before I had Calvin I really had no idea how much my world would revolve around poop.
As a tiny baby, when he’d leave a little gift in his diaper, I’d be so proud of him and rejoice in his accomplishment with enthusiastic "oohs" and "ahs." When he started eating solid food, though, things got a little hard for him, literally. Even though I was feeding him ample oatmeal and prunes and pushing the apple juice we still had to give him a suppository nearly every other day for over a year. His low muscle tone made it difficult to have a bowel movement unless he was good and lubed up.
At the gastroenterologist we were given a prescription for Miralax. Our goal was to get his stool to be the consistency of apple sauce. Yum. Thankfully, the medicine worked like a charm and I was back to congratulating him with a sweet “good boy, Calvin” every time he stooled.
Among other daily rituals, I log his bowel activity. No poops can mean that there might be an impending seizure or it could mean I need to give him less cheese or more yogurt. In my journal’s margins I include words like “smudge” or “smudge-plus” and whether his offering was a tiny, small, medium or large BM. Sometimes it’s a complete “blowout.”
Calvin’s bus driver seems quite amused, and perhaps nauseated, when I give his Ed-tech the morning’s details. “He had a huge poop this morning,” I say, “it was perfect– just like hummus.” When they bring him home the Ed-tech remarks, “he had another one, it was dark green and very seedy.” The bus driver is incredulous at the conversations we have nearly every day. But I can tell our enthusiasm for the subject is rubbing off on her since she congratulates us, sometimes with a high-five, every time she hears he has delivered us a package, although I’m not sure if she still eats applesauce or hummus.
Hi Christy. You write so well. Your posts are informative, touching, sometimes sad, and this latest one is fun, except for the suppository part. Seems to me the general public do not appreciate the importance of poop and all it can tell us. I am glad Calvin is giving you plenty to observe and note in your log -er I mean notebook. It sounds like this aspect of Calvin's health has spared you from excretory worries, an ever-so-slight relief, I hope.
ReplyDeleteCarol Lord
Hi Christy,
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to thank you for sharing your family's life with me. I hadn't seen you in a long time and I often thought about you folks and how you were doing. I am living locally, if you need anything please don't be afraid to ask.
T.J. Porter