OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG

Michaela: who cares!!
Maeve: SEE BELOW!!
Alasdair: who cares!!

Okay everyone.

MAEVE.

POOPED.

IN.

THE.

POTTY.

All week long!! She hasn't had an incident in her pants since last Saturday! And we even still have 1 bribe gift left on the counter. :) So i'll pick up some candies to continue the bribery on a scaled down level.

But, by jove, I think she's got it!

At least a little good news

Michaela: 1 accident recently
Maeve: See post
Alasdair: normal as ever

I've been going through some life-changing events this last couple of weeks, and not good ones, so my desire and ability to blog has been squashed for now. But I did feel it necessary to at least mention the one really great thing that has happened:

MAEVE POOPED IN THE POTTY.

Seriously. Saturday she did once, and Sunday TWICE!! I took her to the store and bought a bunch of bribery goodies. Hopefully we got enough of them so that she'll create a good habit before we run out.

So, yay!! And check back now and again. Someday I'll feel good enough to get back to regular blogging.

Dr. Phil, here we come!

Michaela: doing okay
Maeve: still pooping in her pants
Alasdair: normal poops, no rash

I'm terrible at blogging during the summer. I apologize for the huge lapse in between posts. Maybe once school is back in session and we're back on a normal routine I'll be able to sit down more regularly and vent.

Our struggle lately is still trying to get Maeve to poop in the potty. She goes into her closet in her bedroom and lays it down in there. I've started making her clean it up by having to remove her own pants and get the pooh out from her panties/pants and into the toilet. Then I help her clean up because she would never be able to get herself clean. But you know what? She HATES it. And God forbid she gets poop on her fingers or legs. She absolutely freaks out. So, while I see this as a step in the right direction, it still hasn't curbed the behavior. So now, we're tryin' it Dr. Phil's way. Next time she does it I'm going to make her sit in a chair IN her poop for a spell before I make her clean it up. I'm not sure she'll care all that much, but we'll see.

It's so frustrating. And you know, I'd even be happy if she wanted to go in a diaper, as long as she would just come and say, "Mom, I need a diaper to poop in." At least I wouldn't have to clean up the huge mess. But no. She's supposed to go off to preschool next month fully potty trained, but that's obviously not going to happen. I'm going to send her anyway. I mean, what are the odds that she'll crap her pants during the 6 hours of preschool she's in each week?

What's that, you say? 100%?

Yeah. I know.

*sigh*

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Michaela: having minor issues
Maeve: 1
Alasdair: .5

So, we're going camping this weekend. I spent the majority of the day trying to squeeze in work, cleaning up, packing and grocery shopping, plus keeping the kiddos happy. During my "lunch break" I ran out to get gas, get some produce, run by the bank and hit Costco. Usually our ritual for grocery shopping is Costco, followed immediately by Top Foods. And it's usually dinner time. So right after Costco when the kids are starting to whine and drive me insane, we get them berry smoothies from the food court at Costco. I shit you not, all three of my kids can down them in about 20 minutes flat. They don't stop to whine, fight, yell or even breathe! It's amazing. So that's what my kids had for "lunch" today. An apple in the car, a sucker from the bank teller, and a berry smoothie from Costco. I'm a great mom. :)

The rest of the plan was to finish out my work day, feed the kids then run back out to do the main grocery shopping. But it turned out that Mike was leaving for the evening later than I expected, so as they kids were eating dinner, I escaped to do the shopping on my own. (yay!!!) Upon my return I find out that Maeve had done her "doodie" for Mike today, but she wasn't wearing any panties under her dress and it fell right onto the living room carpet! HAHAHAHAHA!!! While I feel marginally bad for Mike having to clean it up, I'm more elated that it wasn't ME for once. :D

Off to Icicle Creek tomorrow for a relaxing weekend of mojitos, pina coladas, junk food, reading and river swimming. :D

Poop: 1. Me: 0.

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 5 successful trips to the toilet for pee, four pairs of peed in panties, two pairs of wet shorts, one pair of pooped in panties
Alasdair: 2

Oh. My. Lord.

It was a day from hell today. Everyone keeps telling me to "not count" today, but it's hard to not count it when you're still living it. I took all three kids to the zoo today with my sister's family. We were there for over 5 hours. No naps. No extra money for bribery and sugary snacks. It was fun and it sucked all at the same time.

Frist off, Michaela was a trooper (as was my sister's family). It's not easy to go to a place like the zoo with a 3 1/2 year old who is potty training. It takes a long LONG time to get through places, and you end up seeing every single bathroom in the whole place more than once.

Here's a rundown to the best of my memory. I'm secretly trying to block it out to save my sanity.
Leave my house.
Get gas.
Stop by my mom's house to try to find something that my sister lost.
Feed the kids the lunch I packed for the zoo in the car at my mom's house.
Drive to the zoo.
Get in to the zoo.
See the giraffes and some ostriches.
Take Maeve to the bathroom.
See hippos and lions.
Take Maeve to the bathroom because she's digging at her butt.
See the tapir, elephants, orangutans, siamangs.
Take Maeve to the bathroom because she's digging at her butt again.
See the raptors, tigers, sloth bears, sun bear, penguins.
Take Maeve to the bathroom because she's digging for gold.
Maeve refuses to try to poop on the potty.
We get 20 feet from the bathroom door and she says she has to go potty.
I tell her too bad.
Eat a snack at the food court.
Maeve pees next to the table.
Clean up Maeve and change her panties and shorts.
Change Doodie's rancid fruit diaper.
Other adults and older kids go to the nocturnal house.
Maeve pees while squatting on the park bench outside.
Change Maeve's panties and shorts.
But I'm out of shorts and panties.
Put Maeve in Michaela's panties and tell her she's not allowed to get out of the wagon now because she's half naked.
See colobus monkeys and the gorillas.
Maeve tells me she has to pee.
I tell her too bad.
She pees in the wagon.
She has to sit in the pee until we leave.
I pick up Doodie and put him on my hip.
I feel the wet spot on his shorts.
I set him down and notice that his newest rancid fruit diaper has leaked all over his shorts.
And on my shirt.
Change Doodie's diaper and let him go bottomless for the rest of the afternoon.
See the flamingos, some other crappy birds and the lame ass petting zoo (complete with miniature cows that look like full grown cow bodies on pig legs).
Leave the zoo before I start crying like an idiot in front of a bunch of strangers.
Get home and feed the kids fruit snacks while dinner is cooking.
Maeve pees in the back yard.
Eat dinner.
Bath.
Jammies.
Maeve poops in her pants.
Clean up, story, bedtime.

Now I'm drinking a mojito and trying to forget to day ever happened. :)

I'll post some pics of the trip and the aftermath after I dig out my computer from under the laundry pile and attempt to get the photos off my camera's memory card.

Kind of a Shitty Day

Michaela: 1 small accident
Maeve: 3 craps in her pants
Alasdair: 5

The day itself wasn't all that shitty. A little hectic here and there, but good lord! How much poop can one woman tolerate in 12 hours?? I've just totally had it with Maeve and her panty pooping. I have found her "place" though. She goes into the closet in her room and does it there. But this evening she did it at the library. So I wouldn't let her check out any books, I made her ride home (much to the dismay of my other kids) with her pants full, and then I made her go straight to bed an hour early after I cleaned her up. Honestly, I just don't know how to nip this one in the bud. She is supposed to be completely potty trained by the end of August so that she can go to preschool, but I just don't see that happening. Plus, I am just the kind of person who can't deal with this type of stubborn behavior. It's illogical and it drives me crazy. I know, I know. Why do I have three kids if i can't stand illogical people? I DON'T KNOW.

And Alasdair has been having a lot of movements too. So far the weepy rash hasn't come back, but it is red. So I've been slathering him in Desitin and keeping him comfortable at least.

One more day to go, and then it's my sitter's turn to change poopie diapers for a while. Hallelujah!!

Debonair Doodie

Michaela: no accidents lately
Maeve: simply will NOT use the toilet for #2
Alasdair: lots of summer fruit = excess poops and diaper rash :(

I actually had to pull out the Ilex cream. We haven't had to do that in quite a while for Doodie. But he was just eating SO much fruit that his little bum couldn't take it. In just a few hours we went from sort of red to total skin breakdown. But the Ilex finally took care of it. Honestly, if anyone has a kid with Hirschsprung's and you haven't found Ilex yet, take my word for it. Use it. It's worth every penny you spend on it to make your kid's butt feel better. And I'm pretty sure unless your kid has HD you don't really know what a diaper rash is. :)

Anyway, we're still struggling with Maeve to get her to use the toilet for pooping in. She told me the other day that she was scared she would get flushed down, which is a load of crap, no pun intended. She pees without fail all the time on the toilet. So I decided to get down and dirty with her like I did with Michaela (see previous post). So far I've thrown out her Barbies, her Polly Pockets, and two of her favorite nighttime buddies. I've also made her stop playing with Michaela and the neighbor girl next door (which was a huge screaming fit) and I've made her go to bed early twice. I really don't want to have to get mean and take away her Elmo or her kickit (her favorite handmade baby blanket), but I might have to. Nothing seems to phase her long enough to get her to want it back. Ugh.

Here's a nice photo to end the day. My Dapper Doodie:

Happy Father's Day!!

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1 HUUUUUGE crap in her panties
Alasdair: 3, plus a rash that's getting out of hand

So, I put Maeve in a diaper today. She actually said I should, and I was so angry at the huge dumper she took in her pants today that I actually did make her nap in a diaper. After she woke up I put her back in some underwear, but I told her that I was going to start "throwing away" her toys tomorrow every time she poops in her pants. It sounds extreme and nasty, but you know what? it worked for Michaela and she was younger than Maeve is now. It's turned into a power struggle. It's not about learning to use the toilet and learning about the feeling when you have to go. She knows damn well when she's got to go because she leaves the room, goes somewhere quiet and comes back poopy. When I did this with Michaela it took 1 weekend. Day 1 I put all her movies in a garbage sack and "threw them away" by putting them out of sight in our spare room. Day 2 I put all her books in a sack and did the same thing. Day 3 it was all her baby dolls. Day 4, did not poop in her pants again, unless it was a real honest to goodness accident. So, i'm gonna get tough with Maeve and see how it goes.

And Doodie has been eating too much fresh fruit I think. Now, any good parent might say, "HA! No such thing!" However, these would not be the parents of a child with Hirschsprung's Disease. His diapers are gross and just smell like recycled fruit, but they are also giving him The Rash. I went straight to the Ilex cream, it was that bad. But even the Ilex didn't do anything the first two times I put it on. Wha?? So, tomorrow I'm going to have to double up on the diaper changes and see if we can get the rash under control before it gets to the bleeding stage. Poor baby!!

My Cutie Patootie Doodie

Michaela: skids
Maeve: still won't poop in the toilet
Alasdair: normal as ever!

We think that Maeve is constipated because she doesn't want to poo on the potty yet, so she holds it until she can't anymore and then it starts to hurt. We're gonna sneak some Miralax into her drinks and see if that helps her go more often. I'm still not sure how to get her to go on the potty, but going is better than not going, regardless of where she does it. It makes me nervous though. Michaela was also very regular until she was potty training. Then she got constipated because she didn't want to go on the potty and she's pretty much been plugged up ever since. So I'm hoping to avoid any long-term issues with Maeve.

On a cuter note, Doodie got lots of attention from strangers today. This morning we went to the See Kai Run warehouse sale to get him some new shoes. He was wearing his current pair and was strapped into the stroller with his SKR balloon tied to it. When we got to the register they commented on his shoes and asked if they could take his picture, so I said yes. Then later in the day we hit Sorticulture up here at Legion Park. It's like a Garden Art fair. The kids got restless after like 2 minutes, so I gave them their "Yan-yan" snack. It took about 30.6 seconds for Doodie to be covered in chocolate, but enjoying himself thoroughly. We had one couple start giggling at him because he was adorable, then a few minutes later these 3 ladies caught sight of him and asked if they could take his picture. :) I love it when strangers think my kids are cute.

**Updated to add some photos of the two youngest in all their chocolate glory:

I actually DID survive the husband's Leave of Absence

Michaela: smears and streaks, and she peed her pants
Maeve: every day she poops in her pannies
Alasdair: healthy as a Hirschsprung's Horse!

So, yeah, I didn't exactly finish my posts the week my husband was out of town, but I did survive. It was a strenuous and busy week though.

Lately we've been trying to figure out the enigma that is Michaela. We (I) took her to her doctor and we discussed her behavior. I found the whole appointment less than helpful. He basically just wrote her a prescription for Adderall and sent me on my way. We decided to hold off on it for right now. We're going to try some things at home this summer to get her to be able to concentrate more and follow through with things. Then, when school starts back up i'll speak with her new teacher, get weekly updates from her for 4-6 weeks, and then we'll see where things are at. We may want to try the medication then. It's a really hard step for me to take, partially because I feel like a bad parent and that her inability to focus and follow directions is my fault. I can't distinguish between this being HER problem or MY problem. Ugh.

But school is out in a day and a half and i'm ramping up a "schedule" for all 3 kids so that they aren't just running around like wild monkeys all day long for 2 1/2 months. And the weather has been unseasonably nice for Seattle and we've been taking full advantage of that. Maeve continues to crap in her pants with no resolution to that problem in sight. I'm not sure she'll actually be going to preschool in the fall because she's got to be able to go. I should probably have more faith in the girl, but I don't. She's too stubborn for her own good. :)

Alasdair is blooming in the language department. His few words up until now have really only been the first half of the word, with a few exceptions. But he's almost finishing some of the words now and picking up on some bigger ones. I also noticed that he copied Maeve's words in the car today. Maybe this summer he'll take some huge strides in that area.

And some other good news: Maeve learned how to pedal on her "big girl bike" and Michaela can now ride her bike without training wheels! Yay!

Survival - Day 3

Michaela: 1 accident
Maeve: 3 poops in her pannies
Alasdair: 1

I am convinced that children have some sort of internal alarm telling them when the worst possible time to crap in your pants is. I mean, really there is never a good time to crap your pants, but some times are definitely worse than others. Like when your mom is getting ready to herd you all out the door to swim class. Or when she's late picking your big sister up from school. Or she's going to miss her bus for work. Or right after she's given you a bath and hasn't had time to diaper you yet.

Today it was swim class. I was running a little late and herded the kids from the back yard into the house so I could get Maeve in her "jump-soup" (that's Maeve-ese for swimsuit) and head out to her lessons. But the minute I pick up Doodie i can smell him. So I wrestle him to the ground and pin him down so I can change the grossness and I asked Michaela to help get Maeve's jump-soup on her. As soon as Maeve's panties are down Michaela's all "Eeeew! She pooped!" Well, of course she did! We're late, she's not dressed and Doodie's got the shits from hell! Yay! Anyway, i cleaned her up and we ended up making it to swim class on time.

Then to end my marvelous day, the kids were playing in the back yard after dinner while I was trying to clean up the kitchen (which has a clogged drain and is FULL of gross standing water, ugh) when I hear something plastic on the slide outside. Now the kids decided that getting in our old cooler and shutting the lid is "fun". So they take turns getting in, the others shut the lid, then open it and you get out. Next kid goes. Rinse, repeat. Before you all call CPS on me, it's not a refrigerator type cooler, it's like an igloo cooler. And it's a cheap one at that. It doesn't fully close and it's not airtight, so it isn't a safety hazard. Except that when I'm hearing this plastic sound on the slide. My kids figured out how to turn it into one. My 7 year old crammed the 2 year old inside it and was dragging it UP the slide so she could let it go and watch it slide down. OMG. So I yelled at her and put her in a time out, which apparently was her most oppertune time to crap her pants.

I hope my husband isn't reading this from Springfield. He might not come home. :)

Survival - Day 2

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1 poo in her pannies
Alasdair: 1

My day went something like this:

Get up
Get ready for school
Take M to school
Work
Lunch
Naps for kids
Work
Pick M up from school
Coach M on her "to do" lists while trying to
Work
Snack
Work
Ballet class (while keeping the two little ones entertained for 45 minutes in my car)
Work
Dinner
Dishes
Baths
Jammies
Doodie grabs a dirty plate and messes up the floor
Garbage to curb
Maeve Poops in her pannies
Laundry
Brush teeth
Read stories
Bed for the Girls
Get Doodie his "milk cocktail"
Book for Doodie
D to bed
Bake Brownies
Work
Blog
EAT BROWNIES.

Time for that last step now. I'm surviving w/o Mike here, but I could use a small break. Hum.

Survival - Day 1

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1 pooh in her pannies
Alasdair: 2

So, the hubby is out of town on business (which doesn't happen very often so I'm very much not used to it) and honestly, this is probably one of the worst times ever for that to happen. I'm way too emotionally fragile with the kids right now and having to handle the three of them, plus work, plus swimming and ballet, plus the gym, well, let's just say we're walking a thin line of sanity.

BUT, I made it through day 1 with no major meltdowns, the kids got fed, bathed, homeworked, dishes are done, my chores are done (even the laundry!), the house is clean enough to not totally stress me out, and i just finished up my last bit of work for the day. I finally got a shower about a half hour ago and i'm ready to slip into my clean sheets!

I'd say other than Maeve's pooh incident, things went pretty well today. 4 more to go!

Blogging Standstill

Michaela: skid marks aplenty
Maeve: pees great in the potty and poops in her underwear
Alasdair: 2 good poohs

I think i'm losing my mind, seriously. I can't keep up with punishing my kids every 5 minutes, so I definitely haven't had time to blog. Things are pretty normal though. Michaela's totally ADD, which i'm slowly coming to terms with, and still crapping her pants constantly. Maeve is now a professional at going in the potty, as long as it's not solid. We haven't mastered that yet. And Doodie is pooping right along, no diaper rash and nothing too funky.

But my 7 year old, OMG. I'm ready to wring her neck. Here's her list of "issues" currently:

Can't follow directions
Doesn't pay attention in school
Doesn't finish her school work
Talks and interrupts
Can't remember to put anything away
Can't remember that my floor is not a trash can
Can't remember to do her homework
Can't remember to do chores
Poops her pants
Can't answer any question unless the answer is "i don't know"
Can't sit still to save her life
Can't stop screaming at her sister and brother
Has no volume control whatsoever
Can't get herself ready for school in the morning

there's more, but there's probably a character limit on blogspot. I'm so torn. I can't decide if she's just 7 and maybe immature or if she might need a trip to the doc and a diagnosis of ADD. It's not something I'm taking lightly, but i'm at my wits end with her. I don't know how to parent her successfully and it's not good for anyone in our house. I didn't just decide she's a pain in the @$$ and chalk it up to ADD, but every day I'm more and more convinced that her behavior isn't normal.

Anyway, I shouldn't be the only person in our house medicating themselves to stay sane, should I? Misery loves company!!

Worst Day EVAR

Michaela: no accidents, but some skid marky undies
Maeve: 1 pooh in the potty, 2 in her pannies
Alasdair: 3, and one was a DOOZIE

Let's begin with 1 poopy Doodie diaper and 2 pantie poops from Maeve.
Then there's the flat tire. I walked out to my car with the little ones to go to the gym and had to drive straight to Les Schwab. Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200.
After I got that fixed we drove to the Y. There was no parking. Not one spot. Nada.
After 15 minutes I found a spot and got inside, but the Child Watch for Doodie was full. So I checked Maeve in and put D on the waiting list. For 45 minutes.
Finally I got in to the gym and slammed out my workout in 30 minutes, grabbed the kids and fled home.
Poop.
Lunch.
Nap.
Poop.
Work.
Collect M from school.
Work.
Poop explosion from Doodie.
Swim lessons for Maeve.
Work.
Oh, and in between all this was the incessant bickering, fighting, screaming, jumping, running, crying and downright unruly-ness from my kids.
I was at the end of my rope. Seriously, I'm at a loss. I'm not sure where I lost control of my kids, but it has happened and I don't know how to get it back. My 7 year old is literally out of control, and the 3 year old just copies everything she does. Then the 2 year old picks up on all the finer points from the bigger two. Between picking up all their messes and breaking up fights and trying to ignore the screaming I can't seem to hold on to my sanity these days.

I think it's time to chant my mantra for a few hours: This, too, shall pass.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

She won't even poop for ice cream

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 4 poops in her pants, 1 pee accident
Alasdair: 3 (4?)

I can't remember Doodie's total because my whole day is just a blur of poop. If it wasn't Doodie's diaper it was Maeve's underwear. My hands are raw from scrubbing with soap all day long. Gah. I mean, it actually inhibited my work today. I just couldn't get anything done!!

I tried to bribe Maeve with ice cream if she'd poop in the potty. I knew she'd have to go since she didn't go yesterday at all. She had a nugget in her pants first, so I told her she could have ice cream if she used the potty. So a few minutes later she said she needed to go, so she sat and a little while later she said she went! But I highly suspect she went in her panties and it just sort of hung on to her cheeks for dear life until she sat down, then dropped it's way to freedom. But she thought she went so I gave her some ice cream. ho hum. Maybe in another couple days when she's got to explode again we can find a new bribe.

Still no poops

Michaela: no accidents, but she's all backed up like a sewer line
Maeve: 0
Alasdair: 2

Michaela's all constipated again. I can tell because she's going through underwear with serious skid marks like the world's going to end in three days, and she smells like a sewer. That's my tell-tale sign. So I'll try to clean her out this weekend I think, more milk of magnesia, and then cram some probiotics down her throat. We haven't been religious about taking them every day, but she gets them probably 3 - 4 times a week. Obviously that's not enough. And we've been kind of lax on the milk too. She's been having yogurt, cheese and regular milk more often than I'd like.

Maeve seems to only pooh once every other day or so. I think she's nervous about doing it in the potty. She didn't go today, so I'm going to watch her like crazy tomorrow and see if I can catch her in the act and get her on the potty before it's too late. Then I'll reward her with a huge bowl of ice cream with whipped cream and sprinkles!!

Alasdair's just chugging along. Nothing really to report, so that's great on the HD front!

Now I've got Doodie trained too!

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1 naptime accident and 1 poo in her panties

Alasdair: 2

No, not potty trained, but he did grab the bowl out of the potty chair after Maeve had used it, carried it into the bathroom (sloshing it all over the kitchen and bathroom floor), dumped it into the toilet and flushed! Nice. I pretty much don't have to do anything now. Michaela and Doodie will take care of everything for me. :)

On another note, I saw just about the cutest and most heartbreaking thing I've ever seen Maeve do tonight. I was cleaning up, Michaela was reading, Daddy's in bed (wtf??) and Maeve is taking care of Elmo. He took a nap on my kitchen rug that was dragged into the girls' room. He peed in the potty which required a wipe and an imaginary dump in the toilet/flushing, etc. He was at the table in Doodie's high chair with a bowl and a cup, but he was apparently "not eating his be-fest" according to Maeve. After that he needed a bath. Now, the bathtub was still draining (it's really slow) and I saw her go in there, but i figured she'd just pretend to wash him and maybe get some jammies on him or whatever, so I let her be. Two minutes later I hear the bathtub faucet turn on, so I yell from the living room for her to turn the water off and don't play in the bathtub.

(here's the heartbreaking part)

So Maeve comes tearing out of the bathroom into the living room and she's absolutely freaking out with fear, and she's saying "Elmo's dying!! Elmo's dying!!" I mean, she was terrified. You would have thought she birthed him herownself. So I had to run in there and rescue the drowning Elmo from the bathtub, wring him out and promise to give him a bath downstairs and get him all dry in the dryer.

(not our actual Elmo)

On one hand, it's freaking hilarious. But she was so geniunely scared and upset that I can't help but feel bad for her. Plus I'm in some weird way really proud of her having those kind of complex feelings and also understanding that water is dangerous. Huh. My amazing little 3 year old.

the pooping isn't going so well

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 2 poops in her panties
Alasdair: 1

Just like every potty training kid, Maeve still hasn't grasped the whole pooping thing yet. This morning she was laying on the floor playing with some Barbies and all of a sudden she looks up at me and says "I peed!!" with a look of shock on her face. So I brought her over to clean her up and lo and behold, poop too. So I cleaned her up and then reminded her what we do when we have to go poo, and not an hour later she pooped in her panties again. Geesh.

The problem is that with Michaela i knew what she did when she had to poop. She had a pooping "place" and she'd get really quiet and stand a certain way. With Maeve I haven't figured it out yet. She does tend to get quiet and still I think, but I haven't quite grasped it.

And, to top things off, Maeve woke up with one of her butt cheeks covered in a rash with one spot in particular really flaky and nasty. I have no idea what it is, if I should use benadryl or steroid cream, or how she got it. What I do know is that it is NOT diaper rash. And I dare you to try to google "rash" and "butt cheek" or "bottom" or "butt" and "child" and not get an entry for diaper rash. Google fails. If it's not getting better in a week i'll take her in to the doc. For now we're just chalking it up to Swine Flu. :)

A bit of a backslide

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 2 pees in the potty, 2 poops and 2 pees in her panties
Alasdair: 2

Today was my first day back to the work grind after 11 days, so we need to get a new potty routine in place. I actually think when Maeve is more active, she's better at recognizing when she's got to go, as opposed to while she's losing herself in an episode or two of Dora the Explora. We'll get back on track though.

And then there's Doodie. I mentioned yesterday that his poops are just gross lately, and today was no different. But with pooh #2, we (I) left him in it a little too long. I put him up at the dinner table and he wouldn't even sit down because it hurt his bum. He squatted in his booster seat and ate. Once I got him cleaned off in the bath and dried off, I could see his whole scrotum is bright red. Poor baby. So I creamed him up with some Desitin and he was off. I think we can avoid the weepy rash. That usually stays pretty localized on his butt cheeks and doesn't get on his penis or balls, although they haven't been 100% unaffected. But this rash isn't so bad. We won't even need the Ilex.

Note: Best thing ever after sinus surgery? Sneezing. Close second: Blowing your nose. Don't take these things for granted people.

!!!

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1 pee accident, BUT she pooped in the potty again!
Alasdair: 2

Doodie's got something nasty going on in his tummy, and frankly so do I. I think between all the greens my dh has been cooking lately and my harsh meds for my sinuses, it's wreaking some havoc on my insides. I'm ready to head off to bed shortly so I can sleep through the awful gut feeling.

But before that I'm waiting for Maeve to pooh on the potty again! She was all tucked in and came running out saying she had to go poop. So now she's watching American Idol and watching her daddy to ab exercises in the living room while she gets inspired to "go". I'll send her back to her room shortly. She rarely poops at night, even if she does have to go.

But we continue to have lots of success going potty with Maeve, so I'm glad for that. Our diaper pail was only half full this week instead of overflowing!! Maybe we can even downsize our garbage can again. :)

Potty Trainer for Hire!

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1 - IN THE POTTY!!
Alasdair: 2

I haven't posted in a week or so because I was technically on "vacation" last week, but I ended up having sinus/septum surgery on Tuesday which put me out for the week. Then I suffered some complications that put me out even longer. Long story. Really long story. But today i'm back and tomorrow I start getting all the crap shoved up my nose out! yay!

The other motive for taking vacation last week was to fully concentrate on potty training Maeve, so I was concerned that it wasn't going to happen. But you know what? 1 day with me and 5 with my seven year old daughter was enough to get Maeve peeing on the potty when she needs to and she even POOPED on the potty this morning! I was still in bed!! Seriously, she deserves a Nobel Peace Prize and Maeve gets a gold medal! I couldn't be happier. Maybe we'll end up going to preschool in the fall after all!

Some Success!

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: NOT ONE WET/POOPIE DIAPER!!
Alasdair: 2

Today was offically day 1 of our Potty Training Boot Camp with Maeve. Yesterday at my in-law's Easter get-together we used our last pull up. She peed in her bed this morning instead of getting up and using the potty, but other than that she went 4 times in the potty, twice because she did a little potty dance/squeezy thing with her legs and I rushed her to the pot to go. One of those times was even at Walgreens and she used the public toilet!! I'm so proud of her.

Of course, this is day 1. Now my expectations are set WAY too high. :)

Happy Poopy Easter

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 2
Alasdair: 2

We got all spiffied up this morning in the Easter fancy duds and headed out to a brunch at my friend's house. We did a little egg hunt (inside 'cause it's Washington and it's pouring rain outside), and then we had a nice meal. And something that Maeve ate made her crap her pants to the point where it actually fell out of the leg of her pull-up and onto her sock, where she then proceeded to track it all over my friend's beige carpet and house full of people.

Nothing like the holidays I tell ya.

Happy Easter!

The Terrible Twos? Terrible Threes? Nope. It's the Terrible Maeves.

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 0
Alasdair: 3

First the poo, then the "Maeves". Doodie has been pooping up something runny and nasty for a few days now, anywhere from 3 - 6 times a day. And the diapers are FULL. Yesterday they started eating away at his bum and now he's got a rash. It's only weepy around his bunger, but his balls are red and raw, and his poor thighs are all irritated. The poo keeps running down his legs inside his pants and so it's making everything it touches all red. We used some Ilex tonight and creamed him all up with some Desitin too.

Oh, and he ate some birthday candles today, so his poops are runny, green and flecked with pretty red and blue wax!

So, I don't know what to do with Maeve. She is hands-down the most stubborn person I have ever come into contact with. She won't do as I ask, as I say, as I scream, nothing. We try to keep things fun and light and with any small request the mood turns dark. There's pouting and screaming and foot stomping which leads to time outs and butt smacking and sitting in your room crying for hours on end. And then there's Maeve. j/k! I took next week off of work for the sole purpose of potty training Maeve so that she can go to preschool in the fall. I was optimistic, but the closer we get to P-Week the less I think I'm going to be successful. I'm pulling out ALL the stops though, so hopefully we can get this burned into her hard little head. And maybe once it's there it will never come out like with my first one!! :D

Retro Post

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1
Alasdair: 2ish

I didn't post last night because I seriously had the WORST NIGHT EVAR. Okay, I'm being a tad dramatic because I can name at least two other nights right now that were worse. But it was bad. I left work late and had to go get my kids from the Y. My friend who watches them brought them there and checked them into daycare with her kids while she took a class. I was able to squeak in a 45 minute workout, which was good. Then we got the kids and Maeve was poopy (naturally) and Michaela told me she had a headache. My first thought was, "she's going to puke". I think she gets migraines like her dad and more often than not when she has a headache it leads to vomiting. So anyway, we go to the cars, but not before stopping to get a piece of candy. M &M ate theirs quickly, Doodie let the chocolate melt all over his hands and face. We went to my friend's car to get Michaela's backpack, but Doodie got pissed because he wanted to ride in her car. So he starts throwing a fit. I drag him to my car and take away his melty chocolate (because the day before I had just washed their car seat covers - see previous post about dog poop) and he goes ballistic. So we're heading home, Maeve stinking up the car, Doodie throwing a hissy and we are 1 block from home, no shit, when Michaela shouts, "Mommy, I'm going to throw up, aaaahhhh!" And she does. Inside my car. This is a first for me. I guess I'm pretty lucky since i have a 7 year old and have never cleaned puke off of the inside of my car.

Anyway, I now am trying to get ahold of my husband, who is having a paid dinner and drinks at a bar. And not answering his cell phone. So, let's recap what I have going on now:

Maeve: poopy, way too tired, needs jammies and soon she'll be really pissed off that she can't sleep in Michaela's bed.
Michaela: pukey, fever of 103, tired, needs a bath and some Motrin.
Alasdair: way WAY too tired, screaming, needs jammies, clean diaper and his nightly concoction of a nutrition drink mixed with half and half.
Husband: MIA
Me: Sweaty, tired and hungry as it's 8:45 and i haven't had dinner yet.

So, I finally get the girls both in bed, Maeve screaming bloody murder, Alasdair in bed without his drink because he didn't want to drink it, he wanted to suck on a binky and hold the cup so I took it away. After much thrashing and head banging I just tossed him in his crib and shut the door. (i learned tonight that i apparently forgot to shut the light off, my husband turned it off when he came home and calmed Maeve down and checked on Doodie). I then went outside to cry my head off and clean up vomit from my car in the dark.

All i can say is that I am SO glad I have a sinus infection and can't smell a damn thing. My car smells like shit and puke, but it smells like nose rot to me!

Does dog poop count?

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1, 2 if the dog crap counts
Alasdair: 1

So, we went to pick Michaela up from school today and had to get the small crew out of the car because we had to go buy SCRIP inside the building. So I parked on the street next to a grassy hill. We got to the school, bought the goods and came out without incident. But then we got to the car and while I was putting Doodie in his seat the girls were running up and down the grassy hill. Okay, good. Michaela got in the car, Maeve got in the car. We got almost home and Maeve says, "I'm poopie." Of course, what else is new. So we pull up to the house and I get Maeve out of the car and see that she is indeed poopie. First I thought she pooped and it leaked all over her pants and shoes. Nope. It's dog doo. It's on her jeans, her shoes, her socks because she's wearing Crocs, her car seat and MY car seat. Gross.

I proceed to extract all the poopie items from the car, Resolve my car seat and decide to wash all the kids car seat covers. It's about time anyway. Then it dawns on me, "Michaela, did you know that Maeve stepped in dog poop BEFORE she got in the car?" After a long drawn out story about something or other, I heard one of the two words I was looking for. "Yes." ARGH. Seriously. I should have made her clean up the poop in my car.

The grossest thing is that I still have a sinus infection and can only smell the rot in my nose, so I can't even tell if my car stinks like dog crap. Even cleaning it up I couldn't smell it. I'll probably get on the bus tomorrow on my way to work and no one will sit with me because i smell like poop. Sweet.

It's been a hazy day

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 0?
Alasdair: 2, i think

I don't remember changing anything poopy from Maeve today. 3 wet pairs of panties, pants/skirts and 1 pee soaked towel? Yes. Doodie, i think i changed one of his and Mike changed one. Honestly, those were the only two diaper changes he even had today. I was bogged down with work stuff and Maeve and Doodie seriously fought and cried and whined all friggin day long. By the time dinner came around I was DONE. After I got them all bathed and jammied I snuck out and went to do some laps at the pool. When I got home we cleaned up the kitchen and living room and I feel a lot better.

Maybe tomorrow I'll actually remember to change the kids diapers and have maeve sit on the potty before she piddles on my floor again. :)

I really hate potty training

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 2, one of them in her undies
Alasdair: 1

Last night after bath, Maeve insisted on wearing her strawberry panties. but since we're nowhere near being able to wear undies at night instead of a pull-up, we compromised. She wore the panties underneath her pull-up! Of course this morning she had peed in them both. Later on we were at the Y, Maeve in daycare w/Doodie and I was in the gym working out with my friend. Just as we were leaving we walked into the hall and saw one of the teachers walking Maeve toward us, her pants full of a huge ball of pooh. Apparently, they don't "do" poopy diapers in there. Later on after nap and we picked up Michaela from school, Maeve wanted undies again, so we put them on. She pooped in them.

I hate the whole poopy undies thing. I never know what to do with them, and I can't be washing a load of laundry that has 3 pairs of size 2T panties in it. I really hate potty training. I'd gladly pay for someone else to do it for me. I guess that's what full-time daycare is for, huh? I had that luxury with Michaela, but I'm on my own with the little ones.

The nice thing is that Doodie wants in on the action already. Every time we coax Maeve onto the potty and give her a jelly bean, he wants to sit on it too. So we give him a jelly bean. I mean, ONE of my kids has to be easy and successful to train, right? The odds are in my favor. It wasn't Michaela, I thought it would be Maeve until her stubborn streak kicked in full force, so Doodie's left. HD or no, he will be easy!!

A day out on the town

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1
Alasdair: 1

It was a quiet diaper day today, which is good. Because last night we had Michaela's 7th birthday party. We had 19 kids, and it started at 8 PM. Late. But it was way fun. It was at a local bouncy house place. We let the kids jump themselves ragged, stuffed them full of cake and then sent them on their way. All except my niece and by friend's two kids. The spent the night. We brought them home and got them all ready for bed and plugged in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. at 12:45 a.m. my sister and I went to bed. The kids zonked out at about 1:15 or so. Then they got up this morning at SEVEN A.M. WTF??? And we had a busy day planned. I took them all down to the Pacific Science center to watch a 3-D movie, we had lunch at McDonalds and then back to play at the center. Afterwards we got some Seattle Fudge and headed home. They were plum tuckered out, and frankly so was I. None of the kids got naps, including Doodie. We weren't on the freeway more than 5 minutes before 4 of the 5 kids were asleep. Michaela lasted until we got about half way home.

If I had had to change more than 2 poopie diapers today I think I would have just laid down and cried. :) It was a good day.

It's been almost a month?? Seriously?

Michaela: been having small accidents lately
Maeve: regular
Alasdair: regular, but with some tiny rash issues lately

So, things have been wildly crazy at my house lately. It's a March Madness of another kind. I know 11 close friends and family that have birthdays in March. That means a good portion of our evenings are taken up preparing for parties and get togethers. I know. It's rough. Plus, Mike and I are trying hard to make time for being with the family instead of out running around town. And we've made a pact to turn the TV and laptops OFF until after the kids go to bed, which seriously puts a damper on my blogging time.

Nevertheless, i will make time to blog about poop for 5 minutes in the evenings. I mean, it's not that hard, right? :)

Kid updates:

Michaela - we've switched her from cow's milk to soy. We had to try like 6 brands to find a one that she could tolerate the taste of. She's so picky. I don't know where she gets it. I also have her taking a probiotic every day. So far I don't see any change. Last weekend I gave her an adult does of Milk of Magnesia which is supposed to cause a bm in 6 hours or less. 24 hours later she finally went, but only once. So the next day I gave her some mineral oil. That helped her go a few more times, but she's still not unconstipated. We have her well child check up in a few weeks. I'm going to ask for a referral to a GI.

Maeve - she's been complaining of her tummy hurting almost every day for about 3 weeks now. I'm actually thinking she might be backed up too. Her poo is starting to smell pretty bad, it's got a weird consistency to it, and I think her tummy is distended a bit. Ugh.

Alasdair - you know, the one with Hirschsprung's Disease is the one who is doing fine. He's still skinny as all get out, but he's pooping like a champ. We're still pumping him full of as many calories as we possibly can every day, he's growing, but still doesn't weigh much. It worries me, but he still seems healthy. I'll just have to get used to a not-fat baby. :)

lots of little ones today

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1
Alasdair: 5

Doodie has been just passing these little tiny squirts of poo all day today. Not sure what that's about. It's still not the normal color or consistency, but it's getting closer. I'm not sure if maybe he has a tummy ache? He went to sleep last night at like 8:30 or so, slept for about an hour and then woke up upset. So we got him up because he was running a fever (although not as bad as the Saturday night fever) so we gave him some Motrin and a popscicle. He still wouldn't go to sleep so I brought him in bed with me. I pinned him down and after about an hour he fell asleep. 45 minutes later as I was finally drifting off, he startled himself awake and started screaming and flailing. I couldn't hold him down and he wasn't feverish anymore, not to mention I was really tired and not feeling well myself. So at 1:00 a.m. I put him in his bed to let him "cry it out". After about an hour of some serious crying he finally passed out. Maybe it was tummy related, I don't know. Babies are an enigma.

Where has my life gone?

Michaela: 1 accident

Maeve: 2

Alasdair: 3

I mean, I can't even report daily poops lately! I feel like these last few weeks have just been crazy. Probably because the whole family STILL has the plague and we just can't seem to kick it. Oh well.

In short, Michaela's all backed up. Tomorrow i'm going to try a new soy milk with her and also get her started on probiotics. Maeve is just cranky in general, and Doodie is still pooping out the antibiotic poops, but they are getting better. Although 3 days after he finished those meds he started running a fever of 102.5. Geez.

Anyway, my husband found this on the interweb and i thought it was pretty funny, and fitting! Maybe I can get Maeve potty trained with one of these! SaWEET :D

Last day of the meds, yay!!

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 2
Alasdair: 3

Today the little ones took the last dose of their antibiotics, so hopefully in a week or so we'll be back to normal looking poops in normal amounts. But we DID successfully avoid The Rash for Doodie the entire time! That's a first when the meds are in the mix.

Okay, LOST is on, so I've got to go. Priorities you know. :)

I'm back, finally

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1
Alasdair: 3

Maeve and Doodie are on the home stretch of their antibiotics, so we're right in the thick of the nasty poos. Doodies are this horrible pale egg-shell white khaki color and the consistency of runny cream of wheat. So nasty. And he seems to not want to eat much either. I'm guessing because it leads to the runs even though it's not a stomach bug. But he's at least sleeping better. Both of them are less snotty and coughy though. Now it's my turn to see the doc. yay. But maybe after I'm feeling better I can blog more regularly instead of sleeping my life away. :)

So far so good

Michaela: none today, but apparently a nasty one yesterday
Maeve: 1
Alasdair: 2

It was an office day for me today, so I personally changed 1 for maeve and 2 for doodie, i'm sure they had more with the sitter. And Doodie's have turned to pure liquid pretty much because of the antibiotics, but so far we've avoided The Rash. That's all I care about!

And Michaela has taken to straight up lying about her accidents. She had one in the sitter's car yesterday after school, blamed it on both of her siblings, and then lied to her dad about it when they came home. I'm seriously at my wits end with her. I think it's time for another does of MoM to clean her out again.

We're on watch for the next two weeks

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 0
Alasdair: 1

We've all had the plague at my house now for about 6 weeks. About 10 days ago both little ones got it, but theirs actually progressed to the plague with a fever. So I took them to the doc today. Maeve = fairly bad ear infection. Doodie = double ear infection, with one being really nasty + bronchitis. So we're on antibiotics. That means nasty diapers for Doodie. HD and antibiotics DO NOT MIX. We'll be keeping an eye on the diapers and hoping for the best until the meds run their course.

Slow in the poo department this weekend

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1
Alasdair: 1/2

It was my day in the office on Friday, so I don't know how the kids pooed with the sitter. And yesterday I think Maeve had one small poo and Doodie, I don't remember. He's been really really cranky today too, although I'm not sure if that's because he and Maeve have the plague that's been living at our house the last month or so, or if it's something else. He's got a really snotty nose and a cough, and Maeve's congested with a nasty chesty-sounding cough. No fevers though, so we're still just waiting it out. They'll either get worse or better I suppose.

I can't wait for Spring when we can air out the house and get outside more often to try and kick all these pesky germs!!

100 posts!!

Michaela: 1 accident, #1, but a BIG #1 accident

Maeve: 1/2

Alasdair: 2

It's been 100 posts and 1,000 poops! Well, i didn't actually go and count them, but that's got to be close. :)

Things were pretty much back to normal today with the exception of Michaela's wetting her pants. I'm not sure where that came from. She said she just couldn't make it, but she was just in the living room reading. It's not like we were out and about or she wasn't near a facility. I just don't know what to do with that girl.

Happy 100 poop days!!

Sick and tired of being sick!

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1
Alasdair: 2

Doodie is starting to have more regular BMs lately, not so varied in number and consistency. Maeve is still a little off though. I think tomorrow I might go out to super supplements and buy some FloraBear probiotics. I've heard good things about it from other HD moms and I'm really thinking probiotics might help Michaela with her constipation.

While things are shaping up in the diaper department, upstairs things aren't so great. This nasty congestion and cough has been cycling through the family, first Michaela (who still has the cough), then my husband, then me (still coughing), and now Maeve and Doodie. And last night Maeve started to run a fever. Yay. Which means Doodie probably will too. I'm terrified they'll end up with bronchitis or pneumonia or something. And antibiotics are not our friends! Any HD mom will tell you that!

Hopefully we'll break the fever and all will be good soon.

Pancake Poo

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1/2
Alasdair: 4

I'm not sure what is up with Doodie's poo these days, but it's got a really strange consistency and keeps ending up in a squashed poo pancake against his diaper. When I go to change him I have to peel it off. Sort of like silly putty on a comic from the paper. Not to mention it's really hard to wipe off. But he's going regularly, so I guess i'll just watch it for now.

Maeve, on the other hand, didn't poo much over the weekend when she was visiting my sister, and I know she only had this like half turd today. She keeps telling me her tummy hurts, so I think i'll try to give her some plum juice tomorrow and see if I can get her to loosen up. I keep thinking maybe she's just hungry, but she hasn't been eating much breakfast, which is usually her biggest meal (I'm talking seconds and thirds sometimes) and she complains the most in the mornings about a sore tummy.

Back from a weekend away, poop free!

Michaela: no accidents with me! One small one with my sister.
Maeve: 2 today
Alasdair: 0 today

I wonder if that's why Doodie has been so crabby today. Maybe he needs to poop.

Anyway, i haven't posted for the last few days because my husband and I were away for the weekend on a retreat! It was the first time we've been away from all three kids for more than 12 hours EVER. While it wasn't a "fun" retreat or anything, it was still nice to not be woken up 5 times a night to plug the baby back in, or to be woken up by the crib banging against the walls. :)

I did miss them though. And there's nothing better than coming home to your kids who really missed you, too. Except not having to change diapers or smell poop for 48 hours!

Who put the baby's butt in butter and then covered it in carrot cake crumbs??

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 2
Alasdair: 2 or 3, i can't remember due to mental trauma

Seriously, the title of this post doesn't even do this diaper justice, but it's the best I could come up with to explain this sucker.

First I smelled it, naturally. Then I saw the huge wet spot running down his pant leg in the back. So, like a good mom, I pinned him to the floor to change him. But when I opened that sucker, GEEZ. Obviously it was mostly liquid, hence the spot on his pants and the diaper itself was just soaked with some icky green liquid. But what was caught on the fibrous part the diaper was like little crumbly pieces of cake. And they were all over his butt, his "stuff", his legs, gross. And it wouldn't come off no matter how hard I tried. It took like 10 wipes, and I'm not exaggerating. I got him mostly clean, but there was this little pile of poop crumbs left on the floor under his butt. Ugh. I seriously had to get out the vacuum to clean them up. I swear, in all the diapers I have changed in my life I've never had to involve the vacuum cleaner.

Anyway, grossest poop EVAR. Now I've got to watch him closely because runny green poops are not an HD mom's friend. Everytime we get these I have to decide if it's just a stomach bug or the big "enterocolitis" scare that I've been waiting for for the last 19 months. Knock on wood it's just a bug.

And today I did some research on the interweb about cow's milk vs soy milk and constipation. Turns out there have been studies that have shown cow's milk to be constipating. So I think i'm going to try it out on Michaela. My kids all love milk. A lot. So maybe that will help her gut keep working properly.

Now, I have to go scrub the nasty poop diaper out of my head with some ice cream.

Fairly Regular Tuesday

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1
Alasdair: 1

Things seem to have gone fairly smoothly in the diaper department today. Each had 1, good consistency, not too foul. Sometimes I feel like its a contest to see how many days we can have good solid performances from all of my kids. It's so much pressure! Luckily they haven't clued in. :)

As for Michaela's diet, I've been thinking of how I can change it up to help her stay more consistent in her BMs. I think she probably eats too much cheese. I know dairy is a factor in constipation, but I feel that a few glasses of milk every day and her yogurt can't hurt. But the cheese can. While she doesn't eat a ton of it, I think it's worth looking into. I was also tossing around the idea of trying soy milk instead of regular milk. I'm hesitant though, because it's a huge added expense and it will just spoil her. She'll want "vanilla" milk all the time instead of regular milk. I also am going to place my order for the Fruit Eze and try that on toast or bagels in the mornings.

Oh, and I just went to the grocery store and got a bunch of dried fruit. Doodie LOVES dried fruit, and nothing keeps the colon working like raisins and fruit leather!! :)

It must be a Monday

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 3
Alasdair: 6 or 10

I swear I've been changing crappy diapers all day long. Which is great because I had a crappy day for work and I'm coughing so much that it's giving me a headache. So overall it's been a nice day. Although I guess it's a good thing that Doodie finally emptied his gut out. With the Hirschsprung's Disease it makes me really nervous when he doesn't go, and he hasn't been very consistent lately. He didn't seem uncomfortable, so maybe he just needed the extra flax that I snuck in his yogurt this morning to get things moving. I'll try more in the morning and see if we can get him back on track.

Daddy was gone for the weekend

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 2
Alasdair: 0

So, I haven't posted since Thursday, but that's because Mike was gone for the weekend and I was stuck here with all three of the kiddos by myself. Usually that's not enough to make me not blog or do whatever I need to get done, but I'm sick on top of it. I don't feel all that terrible, but I'm just exhausted.

Maeve spent the weekend in underwear, and guess how many times she used the potty???

None. Nothin. Nathan. Nada.

She's just not ready, despite what my sister keeps trying to tell me. I'm going to just lay off and try again in a few months unless she tells me otherwise.

Happy Birthday Maeve! Now USE THE TOILET!

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 0
Alasdair: 185

Things have slowed down a little bit with Doodie. He's not leaking poo like he was the last couple of days, and things have firmed up a little bit, so hopefully his gut is on the way to recovery.

In other news, it's Maeve's 3rd birthday today. Still no hope of using the potty anytime soon though. I see diapers in my future. Lots and lots of them. :)

The Constant Stream

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1
Alasdair: about 273

I swear that kid has had a constant stream of nasty coming out of his butt all day long. He's also been pooping at night, but so far so good with the absence of The Rash. He must have gotten into something that made his gut rot because no one else has any tummy issues. And seriously, that kid is worse than a dog. He eats anything that he finds anywhere. You'd think I never gave the kid any food. I do, really! On a plate and everything! But I think he prefers the convenience of food on the go. You know, grab it off the table take it to the living room, drop some, take more to your room, drop some, go dig up some grub you stashed in the girls' room three days ago, etc.

I can tell it was Monday without even looking at a calendar.

Michaela: 1 accident
Maeve: 1
Alasdair: 3

It was just one of those days, you know? Maeve crying every 5 minutes, a poopy diaper, a trip to the pediatrician for check ups and shots for both little ones, a poopy diaper, another poopy diaper, Doodie destroying everything he gets his little hands on, poopy diaper. Rinse, repeat.

it's been a busy diaper day today

Michaela: no accidents!
Maeve: 2
Alasdair: 5

We (I) gave Michaela the Milk of Magnesia this morning and it took a good 6 hours before she had a BM. I think she ended up having 2 or 3, which isn't bad. Last time I took it I could barely stay out of the bathroom for about 4 hours! :) Probably TMI, huh?

I think maybe on Tuesday I'll give her another dose and see what happens. I'm not convinced she's cleaned out.

And then with Doodie, I'm not sure what's up with him. He's had a ton of just little squirty poops every couple of hours. So far we've kept any impending diaper rash at bay. We'll just keep him as clean as we can and watch it for any change in color or smell. The last thing I need right now is a Doodie with a case of enterocolitis!

A new trial for the weekend

Michaela: 1 accident
Maeve: 2
Alasdair: 1 1/2

Michaela's all backed up again, so we're going to try the milk of magnesia tomorrow morning. I was going to give it to her tonight, but I decided I didn't want her up all night using the loo. So we'll stick around the house tomorrow and keep the washing machine free for chucking her "accident" clothes into. And Doodie's got some kind of yellow nasty stuff that he's dumping into the diapers. It hasn't given him a rash yet, but I think he could use some firming up before it does end up in another flaming bum.

So tomorrow it's MoM and fiber for Michaela, and bananas and cheese for Doodie! :)

Beet scare

Michaela: no accidents!
Maeve: ?
Alasdair: ?

After dinner tonight I had the little ones in the bathtub and Michaela came in to use the toilet. She went #2 and then headed back out to the kitchen to finish her dinner. When I walked past it I noticed that the water was all pinkish-orange and the log was all magenta colored! ACK! For a minute I was scared to death that we had a real problem with Michaela now, but then I remembered that Mike cooked beets for dinner last night and the girls loved them. They'll eat them all up just to get the pink pee and poo. Ta da! Crisis averted. :D

Fruit-Eze, I'm gonna give it a try!

Michaela: 1 accident
Maeve: ?
Alasdair: ?

Back to the office for me today! But Michaela had a crapper accident right before bed, so I made her drink some juice with Miralax in it. But on one of my online HD groups I heard about this stuff called Fruit-Eze that I want to try. It's basically just a jelly made with prunes, plums, raisins, etc. and has a ton of soluable and non-soluable fibre. Supposedly it tastes good, and 1 tbsp on some toast gives like 5 grams of daily fibre, which is like 25%!! And I like the idea of it just being fruit instead of chemicals and laxatives. It's kind of pricey, and it looks like you can only get it from their website, but I'm going to give it a try. Woo hoo!

Days like today were the reason I started this blog to begin with

Michaela: 2 accidents
Maeve: 4
Alasdair: 3

Seriously. I mean, 9 poop things in, what, the 10 hours between they time they woke up and the time they took baths tonight? So, at least once an hour I was changing a poopy diaper or wiping my 7-year-old's ass. ugh. Every time I turned around I got a whiff of something nasty. It's amazing how much crap can come out of the back end of someone who weighs less than 30 pounds. Poop Poop Poop and more Poop. Not to mention the extra dry hands from all the washing and scrubbing. I can't wait until they move out, sort of. :)

So, I tried raisins

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1
Alasdair: 1

I went ahead and attempted raisins. Normally I don't have any issues feeding my kids raisins, but I know people who avoid them like the plague because of what happens in the poop department after their kids eat them. Yeah, they just don't DO that to my kids. I mean, Maeve had a slightly loose stool, well, it was firm in the middle with kind of a soupy layer on the outside, but it wasn't that bad. And it didn't do a darn thing to Doodie. I think maybe I'll just start keeping notes on what works to loosen up my kids and what doesn't. So far it looks like this:

Miralax: no
Plum juice: no
Raisins: no
Leafy greens: sometimes

If it's not one, it's the other

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 0
Alasdair: 1

Maeve and Doodie keep going back and forth missing poohs. I think it's something they worked out during naptime one day. How can we make mom's life revolve even MORE around poop than it already does? Let's throw in chronic constipation for us all!! Yay!

It's a Flaxy Kind of Day

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1
Alasdair: 0

I'll have to try to feed the kids some bran or flax tomorrow. It's not good for any of them to be going this infrequently. Ugh. I'll see what I can put on the menu that will disguise flax. Oatmeal for brekkie, PBJ for lunch with flax in the PB, and maybe spaghetti for dinner? Man, that's a lot of fiber for one day.

Maeve's on the fritz

Michaela: no accidents!
Maeve: 0
Alasdair: 2, with evidence of his poppy seed breakfast muffin

So, I was going to post that I didn't change one single poopy diaper today so I didn't really care what their counts were, but I got a call from my husband with an "emergency situation". (He's currently at a party with some friends and had to stop to call me.) Yeah, the "emergency situation" was his negligence in reporting the poop to me before he left. Somehow I think he needs to get his priorities figured out. ;)

But it seems that Maeve is on the fritz now. She's only been pooping about every other day which is not good. We've started giving her the Miralax now, too. I'm just not sure what it is with these kids. I think maybe we'll move out to the country so we can just put them all out to pasture. There's fiber in grass, right?

Turpoopen

Michaela: no accidents!

Maeve: 1

Alasdair: 0 (ack!)

Okay, so you know how there's that dish called the Turducken where you put a chicken inside a duck and put that inside a turkey and then cook it? Well, I've invented the Turpoopen. You see, when you change a diaper you can sort of roll it into a ball and use the tabs to close it up, right? Well, Maeve wears Pull Ups. Since Pull Ups are made like underwear, you can either pull them up or down, or you can pull the sides apart for emergency situations, whatever that is. All poopy diapers are emergency situations in my house. Anyway, there aren't any handy velcro tabs on them, so once you've taken it off it's just sort of open for all the nasties to go flying onto the floor on your way to the trash can. SO, I started taking Maeve's Pull Up and rolling it inside Doodie's regular dirty diaper (since I usually change them in tandem) and use his tabs to seal that sucker up! Viola! Turpoopen.

Victory!

Michaela: no accidents!
Maeve: 1
Alasdair: 1

So, last night I had some issues finding Ilex. I went to our local big chain pharmacy and they didn't carry it (not that I expected them to) and they couldn't order it from their distributor because it was "back ordered". But the pharmacist suggested going to the Children's Hospital outpatient clinic and asking for it, because even if they didn't have it in stock they could get it directly from the inpatient pharmacy which obviously DOES have it since they hand it out like candy there. Good plan with one caveat. I didn't want to drive 30 miles away to get butt cream. So I called the hospital in town and asked their pharmacy if they could get it. She said they could order it and it would be in the next morning! YAY! I went and picked it up today and paid LESS than the same tube would be on-line from the company's website, even without the shipping. Sa-weet!

So, if you're looking for Ilex, try your closest hospital pharmacy. I bet they can get it for you!!

Of course, Doodie's rash is gone now. But at least we're prepared for it's inevitable return.

The flame continues

Michaela: no accidents! (and she's firmed up a bit)
Maeve: 1
Alasdair: 3

So, he keeps pooping too frequently which keeps the irritation going. And I AM OUT OF ILEX!!! And I'm having a bitch of a time getting some. I was going to order it off their website, but it's $10 for a tube and another $10 for shipping!! Um, no thanks. And my local pharmacy doesn't carry it and can't get it from their distributor. So I'm headed to the hospital to try their outpatient pharmacy. They can at least get it transferred from their inpatient pharmacy and get it to me. Wish me luck! Because Doodie's balls need all the luck they can get right now! Poor baby.

Here's what NOT to feed a kid with HD...

Michaela: no accidents! But she's had Montezuma's Revenge since Sunday morning...

Maeve: 1

Alasdair: 3

Yogurt from Safeway that expired on December 20!!! Seriously, I bought some YoBaby yogurt at Safeway on Saturday evening, and my two littlest ones each had one on Sunday morning. I just happen to notice later around lunchtime that the date on it was from before Christmas. That is so freaking nasty. So my husband took it back to the store today, asked for a manager and told them about the gross expired yogurt, and also threw in the fact that it gave both of my kids diarrhea. Yay. Hirschsprung's and diarrhea DO NOT MIX. So now Doodie's got a huge red rash on his butt and his balls. It was so bad this afternoon that he wouldn't let me even pick him up. He would put himself in a pike position so that he wasn't sitting on my arm with his rear. So we loaded him up with the trusty Ilex and vaseline miracle cream, gave him some Motrin and let him lay down and sleep for an hour or so. He seems to be in less pain now.

There SO needs to be a book on HD and the diaper rash involved with it. Because even if kids are really healthy after their pull-through operations like Alasdair has been, we still deal with the rash. There's just no getting around it. Maybre someday when the kids are in college i'll get around to writing that book...

Cleanout efforts have begun!

Michaela: no accidents!
Maeve: 0
Alasdair: 1

So, our weekend plans got cancelled because of the flooding down in Chehalis, so instead I decided to load up Michaela with the MiraLax. She's getting 2 capfuls three times a day, about 100 g every day for the duration of the weekend, starting on Friday night. So far it doesn't seem to be doing anything, but I'll keep it going anyway. If I don't see anything happen this weekend then next weekend i'm going to go for the milk of magnesia. I have no idea how I'm going to get her to drink it. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it I guess. :)

Back to the humdrum once again

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 2
Alasdair: 3

Tomorrow is my office day at work. I haven't been there since the middle of December and I am SO looking forward to it. I need some grown up time, meaning no babbling, whining or screaming, no diapers and food flung all over my kitchen, and 2 solid hours on the bus to read a book without interruption. Ahh.

And on a more sour note, my sister in Chehalis is trapped in town by the flooding going on there. I was going to go down to watch my niece in a gymnastics meet, but seeing as how the freeways aren't open and the gym has half a foot of water in it (or it will shortly) I've got no reason to go. So I've deemed this weekend "Colon Clean-out Happy Fun Time!" I'm determined to get M all cleaned out so we can move on to the maintenance portion of this little program. I should probably make sure we're all stocked up on t.p. :)

Clean bill of health!

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1
Alasdair: 2

Doodie had his 6 month check up with his surgeon at Children's that did his pull-through to fix his HD. And guess what? He's perfect! yeah, I know I'm biased. But it was like a 4 minute visit and we don't have to come back for another check up for a WHOLE YEAR! yay! By then we'll probably be in the thick of potty training, so we'll see what the Hirschsprung's has in store for us then. But for now, all is normal with his bum.

Oh, and he almost weighs 22 pounds (at 18 months old!). And this is with him being on a high fat/butter/cheese/eat whatever the hell you want diet for the last 6 months. How lucky we'd all be to have his metabolism. Geesh!

Revelations and Resolutions

Michaela: no accidents!
Maeve: 1
Alasdair: 3

I had a revelation today about Michaela's blockage problem. For the last 3 years I've been told to just use the Miralax and leave it at that. Originally she was only 4, so her dose was like 1 tsp a day. We've recently upped her to a full adult dose of 17g per day. I have been thinking about asking our pediatrician to refer us to a GI and I was at the Children's Hospital website looking at their Gastroenterolgy page when I noticed a pamphlet on Constipation and Encopresis. Lo and behold, I find out that the dosage of Miralax that we need to give her to actually CLEAR her blockage is 100 GRAMS PER DAY for three days!!! Why were we not told this years ago?? So, this weekend we're going to try that and see what happens. If we don't see anything miraculous happen, I'm going to try the milk of magnesia for three days and see what that does. I'm really hoping that once we can get her blockage out and keep her cleaned out, then these accidents will stop. That's my 2009 Resolution: help my daughter to regain bowel control!

On a related note, the pamphlet also mentioned that we could use mineral oil to clean her out, by giving her 1/2 cup of mineral oil 2-3x per day. How gross is that?? Can you imagine drinking 1/2 a cup of mineral oil? It makes my stomach turn just thinking about it. ugh. That will be our last ditch effort there.