The Playground

Lest you begin to think I only blog about poop (or the lack of) and cockroaches...here is something normal!

Summers are so hot here in Arizona that we don’t play outside very often. You either have to be soaking wet or get up at 5:00 am to enjoy the great outdoors – waiting until the sun goes down doesn’t often help either – sometimes it is still over 100 degrees at 10:00 at night! This makes going to the playground pretty much never an option which is not happy news for a toddler who LIVES for the outdoors. As a result we become a little stir crazy and watch a lot of movies. Stephen was so desperate for fun that he built his own playground out of the couch with the cushions pulled off – I have to give it to him for creativity….

Yes, he is wearing jeans in the heat...it was laundry day.

Not a good way to wake up

This post is not for the faint of heart.


Cockroaches




In case you can’t see, there are two of them, maybe husband and wife on a holiday?? FYI they were ON my toothbrush when I first opened the cabinet.
This is where they came from. (It was left unplugged for all of ten minutes after Scott got ready for work before I went in to shower.)
The cleanup: Dustbuster (not enough suction), tongs to move things around so I didn’t have to get too close, big vacuum…and finally the toilet (not pictured). I flushed at least five times.

Good news…and still waiting….

We finally heard back about Boston’s test and he doesn’t have anything “apparent” on his x-rays to indicate a problem.  In other words, he doesn’t have Hirschsprung’s Disease!  Hooray!  I am glad to know that we don’t have to face surgery or any of the stress that goes along with that.  Dr. Ciminello said that he still thinks it is not unusual for a breastfed baby to go 7 to 10 days between bowel movements but if he continues to go 12 to 15 days between, we will do some blood work.  It is still so frustrating to wait around for a bowel movement to come!  How am I supposed to know if he will go as long as 12 to 15 days between bowel movements if I am giving him a suppository every 7 days or so to relieve his discomfort?  Sigh…and the one who really has to deal with the misery is Boston!    

More about Boston…

I forgot to mention that Boston weighed 19 lbs 9 oz when we went to the doctor on Tuesday.  It was his four month birthday and to celebrate he decided to roll over for the first time on the exam table at the doctor’s office!  Fun!  I also forgot to mention that I really like the pediatrician we go to.  His name is Dr. Ciminello and no matter how silly my concerns are he never brushes me off (I was so worried that he would ignore my concerns in this case).  He always addresses all my worries and even if they really ARE ridiculous, he never makes me feel dumb. 

Surprisingly, they were able to get the test scheduled for the very next morning.  I took him to Banner Desert Hospital to the radiology department where they did an enema using Gastrografin.  (Luckily for those performing the test at the hospital, Boston was able to find relief the night before the test with the use of a suppository. If not, there could have been a nasty mess for them….)They had to put a catheter in his bummy and then put the Gastrografin into his bowels and took a live x-ray to see how his bowels are working.  The Gastrografin creates contrast in the bowels so that they can see everything.  Needless to say this was a rather unpleasant experience since he was strapped down on a board.  I felt so bad for the little guy.  He did quite well despite all of the tape they stuck to his rear and then had to rip off.  (OWWW!)  I got to stay in the room the whole time and hold his little hands and talk to him throughout the procedure.  It is never fun to watch either of my boys in pain.  We should find out the results at the end of this week…more waiting. 

Now, what is it they are looking for? I finally found what the name of the disease is that we are hoping Boston doesn’t have.  It is called Hirschsprung’s Disease.    Hirschsprung’s Disease is basically, when the nerve cells that are normally in your intestines don’t develop in the womb. The only way to correct it is surgery.  Here is a link if you want to read about it.  I feel quite confident that he doesn’t have Hirschsprung’s – I have had so many people tell me that their baby “used to do the same thing” that I am becoming more and more convinced that he is normal.  Thanks for the advice – I appreciate it and I am willing to try anything.  :)

Waiting

This is common attire for Boston these days. We dress him in a diaper and wrap him in an old towel when we are waiting for a bowel movement from him. The poor little guy only relieves his bowels oh, every 10 days or so (this week we are up to 12 days). As you can imagine he gets quite uncomfortable during this time. He gets so gassy and fussy and then when the flood finally comes, it is a HUGE mess - guaranteed worst blow-out in history.

Yes, he is strictly breast-fed.

No, he is NOT constipated - it is definately liquid when he goes.

Yes, we went to the doctor today.

Apparently, it is not unheard of for a breastfed baby to go as long as 14 days without a BM. However, if they are going over 10 days without BM the doctor said they like to have them tested to see if everything is working right inside. This is where we are with Boston, so the test was ordered.

The best news for the day was that it is ok to give him suppositories once or twice a week. Hopefully, Boston out grows this problem soon as it is difficult to go anywhere when waiting for the flood. Also, we can't let anyone hold him without an explicit warning of the possible consequences.

Coronado Trail

The weekend of the 24th of July we went to a Smith family reunion in Alpine, Arizona. Alpine is a tiny little town in the middle of beautiful pine forest in North East Arizona. We loved the beautiful weather and scenery and Stephen was on cloud nine with all of the dirt and flowers and sticks and rocks.... We went to Big Lake one day and threw stones in the water (this is suprisingly relaxing). We also rode a quad around on a dirt trail through the woods. Scott took me through several mud puddles and so I got splashed with mud all over my legs, shorts, and IN my shoes. It was so fun!

Once again, these pictures are in random order - I can't seem to make Blogger work for me the way I want it to anymore - that is part of why I haven't been blogging lately!

On our way home we went down the "Coronado Trail" which a beautiful scenic drive running down the border between New Mexico and Arizona. Incidentaly, Scott and I drove this same exact road exactly 6 years ago when we were dating. We had been in St. Johns for the 24th with some friends and we got a little lost on our way home. What should have taken 4 hours took us 9 hours. We didn't care - we got to spend the entire day talking and driving through spectacular moutain views. (If you want to know more about the Coronado Trail click here.) So this road trip was a little anniversary of when we fell in love. It wasn't quite the same with two little babes along for the ride but still fun. The boys were so good in the car; very little crying or whining!

We are still here!

I have taken a break from blogging, but I will come back... Here are some pictures of my boys to hold you over:

Boston's shirt is 12 month size and the shorts are 9 month. He LOVES Stephen and gets so excited when we set him next to Stephen in the chair. Stephen loves his baby brother and is VERY protective of him. The two of them keep me so busy - especially now that Scott is at work all day and I am a "real" stay-at-home mom. :) More to come soon...