Medical Diaries - Spending Way Too Much Time in The Bathroom

    WARNING: This is kind of a gross blog post. I share this because it's been a huge part of our lives the past few months. Plus I think it could be helpful to other moms out there.

   For several months now Lexi has been needing to go #1 frequently. As time has gone on she's needed to go more and more frequently. At first I thought it might be tied to her anxiety about moving and changing schools (Yeah, this problem has been going on for a while). I thought the issue would resolve itself once school got out in May. It didn't. It got so bad that we'd be out running errands, Lexi would NEED to go potty at every store or stop and in between. I felt bad for her but was SOOO frustrated. It's not easy getting all four of my kids to any public restroom. And then once we'd get there she'd hardly go at all! And at home she'd go sometimes every 15 minutes.
     Finally, in July she told Sean that it hurt when she peed. So we took her in and found out that she had a UTI. I felt AWFUL! I thought once we got through the antibiotic things would improve. They didn't. So I finally took her in to get a check up. She got tested for a UTI again (We thought maybe she got on the wrong antibiotic the first time). She didn't have one. So she got some x-rays done. It turns out that she constipated! Apparently, constipation is very common in children. I'm not exactly sure what part of the body holds your poop (I should brush up on my anatomy), but Lexi's is full so it's pressing against her bladder and creating the feeling of urgency that she's been feeling.
      Lexi's pediatrician recommended that for a month she takes a cap full of Miralax with a cup of water everyday, drink 5-6 glasses of water a day and get 12 grams of fiber everyday. (To figure how much fiber kids need, take their age and add five. That works until they're about 18.) And for two weekends in a row he wanted Lexi to do a "cleanse." Which means take 2 capfuls of Miralax and one square of chocolate Ex-lax. Then we'll follow up in a month.
    The Miralax hasn't effect her like I thought it would. I was worried she'd have diarrhea all the time. She hasn't I guessed she was really "backed up."
    And here's a few poor quality phone pictures because blog post are boring without pictures.

Lexi making herself comfortable at her appointment.

 



The girls loved the waiting room where we got Lexi's x-rays done.