One screaming baby and a $10 copay later...

((Warning: This gets somewhat graphic, so if you're not ready to read about baby poop, perhaps skip this post))

Yesterday was a rough day. Not the entire day, but as a whole. The day started out as usual. Ethan ate, he napped, he played. It was after his second nap that things took a turn. To begin with, I let him crawl around while I got ready to feed him, and he bumped his head on the coffee table. Not the end of the world, but he cried, I comforted, he nursed. After eating, I put him back down to play, and I started to make some strawberry bread. He crawled into the kitchen, happily chasing Toby. All of a sudden, he stopped and started crying. At first I thought maybe he'd bumped his head again, but there was nothing he could have hit it on. Then I assumed he just wanted to be held, so I picked him up while I continued cleaning strawberries. But, for once, being picked up didn't help. He continued to cry and even scream. All kinds of theories came to mind. Did he really hurt himself when he hit the coffee table? Could he have a headache? Do babies get headaches? Maybe it's a bad gas bubble? I did eat a lot of broccoli for lunch (thank you, CSA!). Could it have affected my milk that quickly when it's never done so before? Maybe it's his teeth? While I tried to figure out what was wrong and comfort him, I stood him on the dining room table and handed him his sippy cup. He happily sucked on in for a minute before his entire face contorted. He strained like he was trying to poop and let out a horrible scream. He cried uncontrollably and buried his face in my shoulder.

At least now I knew the culprit. I brought him up to his nursery and laid him on the changing table. Sure enough, he had pooped, and there was a decent amount. I'd noticed the past three dirty diapers had been smaller than usual, but they were also fully formed so I figured it was just a result of the solids transition finally occurring. I was actually thrilled since this meant no more scraping diapers in the toilet before washing them! Now, watching my baby scream, I was less excited and more concerned. He began to scream more as he pooped again. It looked normal, though formed, so I couldn't figure out what was causing him such pain. As soon as he was done, he went back to playing with the toy I'd handed him, perfectly happy. But when I wiped his bottom, he began crying again. I noticed the slightest tinge of blood on the wipe, but there was none in his stool, at least.

I decided to put in a call to the nurses at the pediatrician, just to see if there was anything I could do to help him in the future. I figured his body was just adjusting to more formed stools, and the pain and tinge of blood was just the result of his straining. However, when I called the nurse, she wanted me to bring him in immediately. Begrudgingly, I rushed him in, even though he was ready for another nap. Thankfully, the doctor agreed with me that it was unlikely to be constipation, and she didn't see anything more serious, so she agreed with my diagnosis. We're to limit his intake of bananas, sweet potatoes, and other binders and give him more pears and other fruits, which thankfully he loves. He flirted with the doctor and nurses the entire time and seemed to be in great spirits. So basically, I paid $10 and dragged Ethan out during naptime in order to get the same information I'd hoped to get over the phone in calling. At least, if it happens again, we know for sure nothing serious is wrong.

Within 7 minutes of getting home, Ethan was asleep, but I still had to wake him up after a bit to make sure he'd sleep that night. As a result, he was already a little cranky. He nursed OK, and then I mixed up a batch of pear yogurt for him. In order to get the plain yogurt sweet enough, I had to add 7 cubes of pear puree, but even then, after a couple of spoonfuls, he began refusing it. He drank water out of his sippy cup just fine, but if I even picked up the spoon, he began to fuss. I was relating this to my mom on the phone and picked up the spoon so she would hear him. And of course, he grinned, grabbed for the spoon, and ate his pear yogurt happily. He polished off the entire plate, in fact. What a mischief!

Unfortunately, his fussiness continued to a lesser extent for the rest of the evening, and the events of the day led to the worst bedtime since day 1. When I put him down, he did his new fake-out of snuggling up to sleep, but this time when he lifted his head, it was to cry, not to grin. He cried fairly constantly for 23 minutes before finally conking out just when I was getting ready to go in and check his diaper.

Thankfully, this morning has been off to a better start. He didn't stir all night and woke up at 7. Plus, he woke up with a dirty diaper, and it was completely unformed, which meant no pain for him. I don't know if the past two days were just anomalies or if the extra pear did the trick. And while it meant I spent another morning with my hand in the toilet, I'll gladly do it if it means no more pain for him.