And It Just Keeps Getting Better*

(* That is my attempt at sarcasm)

Yesterday I was sleep deprived for the first time in months. We went to a concert the night before. My mom babysat and we didn't get her home, fed and into bed until 2 am (she slept earlier in the evening at my mom's). I got five hours of sleep but it wasn't enough.

DH worked from home and I took the day off. It was a cozy rainy day. I put a roast in the crock pot for french dip sandwiches and we started a fire. It was going to be a nice relaxing day. . .

Do you see where I'm going with this?

When Maddy first woke up yesterday she had a nice big poopy diaper. Two days before she had had a firmer stool than usual so I was glad to see she was back to normal. I had upped her serving of oatmeal two weeks ago and since then I had noticed firmer poo, still regular, but firmer.

After her morning nap I heard her go again. This time it was runnier and slightly greener. I thought, huh isn't that interesting, twice in one day again.

After her breastmilk lunch I heard more squirts. Now it was mucus green with tinges of pink mucus too.

Great.

I would have freaked out more, but she was in such a good mood yesterday. She slept, ate and played well.

I emailed my doctor and he wasn't too concerned. I swear this man doesn't get concerned about ANYTHING. He thought it might be from cracked nipples. Um, okay. . .but my nipples aren't' cracked! Whatever. Thanks for all the help.

I called my friend who also has dealt with bloody diapers. Her son has a milk protein allergy. She was super informative and together we decided it probably wasn't an allergy because those usually show up much earlier than almost six months. It could have been the scary intussuception (a type of bowl obstruction), but she had no abdominal pain and no "currant jelly" stools. It could be anal fissures.

The fourth diaper of the day had even more blood mixed with green seedy stool.

Ugh!

The fifth diaper had . . .you guessed it. . .even more blood.

Shit (no pun intended).

I had had it, by now it was after hours so I phoned the on call nurse. She consulted with the doctor who thought because she was acting normally it could wait until an early morning
appointment the following day. She let me know to call back if she started hemorrhaging from her anus. Thanks for the tip.

I call my friend back who is way more helpful than any doctor or nurse by the way. I learn more from other mothers and the Internet than I ever learned from any doctor. She told me to spread apart her butt hole and use a flashlight to see any evidence of cuts. I tried it before bed and I was relieved to see a small red cut at the opening of the anus. It looked irritated. I slept better after that. So did she. She went a solid eight hours, had a bite to eat and then slept four more until I had to get her up for our appt.

So this morning in the car on the way to the doctor she shats. It is so smelly DH and I can hardly stand it. No blood in this diaper but a whole lot of runny shit. The doctor finds the anal fissure (which looks way better and more healed than last night) and tells us to put Vaseline or A+D on it. So what's with the poopfest? He has no idea and doesn't really care. Shocking!

I am cutting out the oatmeal for a week to let her little digestive system get back on track. When I reintroduce it, I will go back to the smaller serving. I think the extra iron was backing her up and causing the tear.

I still don't know why she has been pooping so much. Maybe she has a little bug. Who knows? I just don't want that scary bleeding to come back.

First comes colic, next comes reflux, then comes teething (which I have yet to actually see any), now bloody diapers.

I'm not really digging this infant stage.