The 5 Letter Word

Well, thanks to those of you who lifted Harrison up. Please keep doing so! And before you keep reading, please heed my warning that this post is gross. It names many bodily functions, so if you don't read it, I understand. I, however, for some odd reason, want to remember this little nugget of a story, because my dear husband has been such a trooper through it all, not to mention the mini-trooper has been just as fabulous.

You see, the "issues" I was talking about involved the lack of going to the bathroom. As some of you know, Harrison is not a stranger to traveling and a handful of times in his life has gotten constipated for several days on end. Once when he was a baby baby, he went 11 days without going. I was at my wit's end when my sweet friend, Tiffany, told me of a home remedy of giving him Karo Syrup in a dropper...worked like a charm! And it worked the other 4-5 times it has happened in his life...

Until we insert our move to Asia in his little life. For the last month, he has only pooped 1 time a week. And his last stint was, again, 11 days. I think he was going for the record. That, coupled with the fact he won't touch the local food and wasn't eating well, was starting to unnerve me. I wasn't worried at first, because it was jet lag, right? And also, those of you who know me, know that I don't worry a whole lot about these type of things, but 11 days?? And guess what, the Karo wasn't working this time (and for those of you who are wondering, yes, you can buy Karo syrup here, although mine is borrowed right now!)

So, we finally call the doctor. We go to him yesterday. He was great, spent an hour with us going over how the large and small intestines work and where they are located in the body. I came to the realization at this time that I truly wasn't paying attention in Mr. Barnhart's biology class in 9th grade...none of it rang a bell. Oops!

And do you know what we had to do? Oh yes, the 5 letter word, we had to give our child an enema. An enema, I tell you. Now, we had already tried this the night before, as our friend Sonya helped me buy one at the local pharmacy. Well, we did it wrong. After 2 failed attempts (because of blockage from 11 days of poop), the third try was a charm. Thankfully he had a dirty diaper right away....but the unfortunate part is that he threw up at the same time...all over Brett.

We decided that Brett was the better one to have gotten the blow...I would have probably immediately thrown up as well and started crying uncontrollably. But, sweet Brett just held Harrison and rocked him as his little body shook. He didn't care that he smelled plain awful or that his favorite shorts might be completely ruined. He just held that sweet boy. Because he's a sweet boy himself with loads of compassion especially on his sick son because Brett has been way more sick than that here in years past.

I told you it was gross. However, the stain came out, even in our tiny 30-year-old washer, it came out...and thankfully Harrison has had several dirty diapers since then. However, we do need to continue giving him the enema twice a day for a few days. And guess who the bad guy is that administers it? You got it...Yours truly. I'm the enemy with the enema. It is truly the worst thing I've ever had to do to him, but I am so thankful for his system to (hopefully) be getting back to normal. Yuck. Please keep praying for him. He has been such a champ through it all, although he does tell us that his "tooshie hurts"...it is so pitiful, but so precious. Please keep praying for his eating as well. Can anyone give me great ideas for fiber in his diet?

I plan to take pictures of our apartment soon and post them so y'all can see where we live. It is such a dear little place. Until then, I hope you all enjoy your day. Ours is just ending, so I will dream about all the wonderful things y'all are doing! Good night!