Friday, January 9, 2009

I Need To Solve This Mystery...

3 a.m. and I'm too keyed up to sleep. A bit awake because I've just completed a tough task - changed Cherise's poopy diapers. At night. While she's asleep. Without her waking. And all by myself because hubby's pulling a night shift.

It's amazing how attuned I've become to Cherise's bodily functions, i.e. she poops at night and I manage to wake up, mid-dream, because my nose recognises Cherise-poop-smell. (By the way, this goes for Cherise-pee-smell as well.)

And my nose has certainly been put to the test this week.

***

Tuesday, 1 a.m.: Adrian and I are horrified to discover our little girl has pooped in her sleep. We put a screaming Cherise (who was angry at being awakened) onto the changing table, and I change her while Adrian tries to soothe her (without success) and halfway through it all she poops some more, and then tearfully announces, "All done, all done!" I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Tuesday, 8 a.m.: I wake up to Cherise-poop-smell - she's asleep but she's pooped again. We change her, with a lot less crying this time, and then conclude that something's not right. So off to the doc we go.

Tuesday, 10 a.m.: At the doctor's. We've just seen the doc the day before for Cherise's pneumococcal jab, so I'm thinking, maybe this pooping is a side effect from the vaccine. The stools are a little loose - not really watery, just a little slushier than usual. Doc gives us loperamide for diarrhoea and abdominal pain, and some probiotics. But Cherise doesn't poo for the rest of the day - appears totally normal actually, so we hold the medication and conclude it was a one-off thing and we overreacted.

Wednesday, 1 a.m.: We are watching a movie in bed when we hear little grunting noises from Cherise's corner. We look at each other helplessly, and put away the movie with a sigh. More screaming as we change her and I have to nurse her back to sleep.

Wednesday, 8 a.m.: Poop while asleep again. Why am I not surprised anymore...

***

And so it's been like that the past week. She's been having slushy stools, 3 to 5 times a day since Tuesday. And she will do a night time poop while asleep. This is strange because prior to this, Cherise was really regular - she'd do a nice big one once a day and that would be it. We've tried the loperamide. No change in the consistency of stools, nor improvement in frequency. Probiotics and yogurt aren't helping. Dietary changes are useless. I have no idea what's going on.

She's not sick. She's not in pain, and there's no fever or vomiting. Plus, 3 times a day doesn't quite constitute diarrhoea, does it?

Is it the jab? Diarrhoea is one of the side effects listed for the pneumococcal vaccine. But then, it's been so many days already - and it doesn't explain the night poop!

My helper thinks it could be teething - I'm quite inclined to agree. Cherise's bottom molars are coming out - they're huge! The right side's almost completely out, and the left looks really bumpy - I can practically see the white tips beneath the gums. Dr. Sears calls it drool diarrhoea, I think. But again, why the night poop? Why doesn't she go more during the day???!!

It's like, out of 3 poops a day, she'll do 2 asleep and 1 awake. Hm.

I can deal with slushy day time poops, but the night time ones are really stressing me. I'm afraid to go to sleep, because I'm scared I'll miss it and not wake up and she'll sleep through the night with the dirty diaper. Thankfully my nose hasn't failed me so far. I'm afraid of touching her in her sleep - afraid if I do, then she'll get roused from deep sleep and do a poop. I wake up many, many times at night to reassure myself that her diaper is still poop-free. And I was really stressed when Adrian went off to work this evening, because if it happened (and it did), I would have to deal with it alone.

Thank God He gives me the strength (and ability!) to get through this night. How wonderful - she didn't even wake up when I changed her! No screaming baby this time! But really, I hope this stops soon. I tell you - there will be much rejoicing in this household the day we see a nice big solid poop in her diaper again. Until then, I'm just going to have to try harder to solve this mystery...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The pneumococcal/rotavirus vaccine jab has a tendency to cause increased bowel movement as a side effect, according to my paedeiatrician.

As for the how, maybe its time to start potty training. She is the right age for it, and once she gets used to it, she will probably try to warn you beforehand before a bombing takes place. But asleep, I'm not sure. My nieces and nephews started potty training at 4-6 months, and haven't worn diapers since.

ChubbyHubby said...

We are starting Cherise on a "tell mummy before you do it" thing but it seems like she is adopting a "tell mummy after I did it" stance...which is a good start. The fact that our entire house has laminated flooring also makes it scary to "catch" her. And honestly, with her loose stools at the moment, it's not a good time to try potty training! Perhaps when she gets better, which is soon, I hope.