Happy Mother's Day!

Last weekend we celebrated Mother's Day here in the US and for us it was a beautiful day, if not just a little over-scheduled. Starting at 8am, I volunteered for a Mother's Day 5K and Christopher got to run in the Kids Fun Run. After that, we moved onto an hour and a half of soccer and then we went to a barbecue. On top of all that, it was a very hot day for New England--over 80 degrees. For those of you in hotter regions, that may not seem very warm but considering the below zero temps we had all winter, to us, 80 degrees feels like we've moved to the desert. We drank a lot of water and were dressed appropriately, which helped.

Christopher did okay behavior wise 75% of the time but when he did not do well, he was very very naughty. He was great at the 5K but wore himself out so by the time we got to soccer, he was melting down big time. The other parents don't understand our journey so they must really wonder what the heck is going on when Christopher just starts screaming I HATE YOU!!! at the top of his lungs and then tries to hit me repeatedly. I dragged him out of the game and sat him on the sidelines to try and get him to calm down, but with only limited success. I kept hoping he'd be able to pull it together but he was just too worn out. In retrospect, I should have just given him my phone and let him relax but I would test out putting him back into the game, which didn't work so well. He full on tackled some kid on the opposing team, which of course the parents didn't appreciate. Sometimes it's hard being the coach because I should have just taken him home after the 5K. But it is what it is and lesson learned.

After soccer, I did take him home for some quiet time so by the time we got to my friend's barbecue, Christopher was a LOT calmer. She even commented on how well he was doing. It was a small, quiet gathering with very healthy low carb foods so that helped. 

It was a long day with a few ups and downs but overall, we survived just fine. Even with all the challenges and the screaming and frustration though, I wouldn't give up my life for anything because I LOVE being a mom. I love Christopher for than anything on this Earth and am so glad I finally got this opportunity to become a mom. I'm sad for him that he had to endure so much pain and trauma before coming into my life but I'm so happy that I was able to take him away from all that and give him a happy, safe, healthy home. I just wish that all children could have a happy, loving home and that foster care could always be a stepping stone to a better life.

That said, Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there and I hope you are feeling as truly blessed these days as I do.

No Poop For You!

My son does not handle change very well. No matter how minor the change seems to us, anything that deviates from the normal routine sends my son into a tailspin.

With spring here, the days are longer and my son has an extra abundance of energy because of it. Additionally, his first grade teacher left about a month ago to go on maternity leave, after giving birth to a set of twin girls. At first Christopher's class had different substitute teachers but now thankfully they have settled on one teacher for the rest of the year.

That's a lot of change and Christopher has responded by refusing to go to the bathroom. At first, this resulted in poop accidents in his pants. That happened several times out of the blue. Now, however, he has gotten better at holding it in so now he becomes horribly constipated as a result.

When he does go, the stools are huge and rock hard. Imagine a golf ball passing through a 7-year-old's colon and rectum and you can imagine the screaming, crying and bleeding that has been going on in our house of late.

Last week, I took the kiddo to see his pediatrician and the doctor prescribed a tablespoon of Miralax once a day, in order to soften the stool and make it easier to pass. Several days later and with no noticeable change, I upped the dosage to two tablespoons (with the blessings of his doctor of course). Yesterday, even after two tablespoons, Christopher still hadn't gone in two days and was screaming, crying and in pain. At this point I gave him a kiddie laxative, feeling somewhat desperate.

This worked and he pooped twice. In his pants of course because he's still too afraid to sit on the toilet. And it was still rock hard although definitely smaller in size and no blood this time. Yay for small miracles I guess.

I think I'm going to have to resort to daily laxatives and then 30 minutes later make him sit on the toilet to get the poop out of him. I feel a little like I'm potty training again but like I said, change does not happen well in our house and this is clearly regressive behavior based on change.

Let's hope that this issue clears up sooner rather than later because I'm already doing my second load of laundry today because of it.