Stopped Up

On Saturday, I took Nikko with me to the grocery while Ronin was napping and Audrey was running around with Denis in the house. Nikko had just woken up from his nap and I didn't want the hassles of him crying and whining, and since he had been cooped up in the house all week since he's been sick, I figured a little grocery trip would do him good. And it did. I made him walk and he seemed very happy to do so. Things took longer because Nikko was walking slowly, or rather, shuffling along. I had to lead him by pushing the back of his head in some aisles. During checkout I put him in the cart and that's when Denis called to find out when I'd be home because Ronin had woken up crying and threw up all over his bed. Not fun. Poor guy. I also decided that I would take both boys to St. Lambert with me. There was the Santo Nino mass going on, but the boys would never sit still and be quiet so my other motivation for going was to see our cousin from the Philippines making a stop-over. I parked a block away and made both boys walk to the church. Nikko was a slow walker and Ronin had short legs so I looked like I was inching us along at a snail's pace. We went to the basement where the post-mass reception would be, and ended up at a table with Pat and Anna, and Atz's family. Ronin was happy to be there, but Nikko was grunting and squealing because he was constipated. In fact, he has been this way since Friday, in a state of discomfort. Things were getting worse, too, because he was starting to make high-pitched squeals when he tried to push. Anna told me about a laxative powder she gives Jovy and I figured I could get some the next day.

Today, the next day, Nikko's constipation was worse. He was so uncomfortable and he was in obvious pain while pushing. I didn't know what to do because we had to meet up with the rest of my family for a late lunch with our Philippine cousin, and I wanted to stop by Target afterward. Nikko didn't do well at Pat's house in the afternoon. His grunts and squeals were turning into screams. We tried putting him on their toilet but he couldn't push anything out. ***TMI ALERT!! If you're squeamish, skip to the next paragraph because I'm going to be graphic. I have to record all this down because I need to remember this experience for Nikko. *** Mom pretty much told me that my only option left for Nikko was to shove a suppository up his rectum. It sounds awful, but I knew I could do it if I had to. I likened it to when I watched the nurses suction Ronin's nose when he was in the hospital. It was painful, but a very necessary procedure so that Ronin could breathe. Same here, it would hurt Nikko momentarily but he needs relief somehow and fast. I was dreading the trip to Target because I knew that the kids would fall asleep in the car and I'd have to wake them all up before going inside. Denis was at work and I didn't know how late he'd be, so if I wanted to help Nikko sooner rather than later, I'd have to go to Target by myself. I figured that I would put the kids in the double stroller and have Ronin sit on the handle with me holding him, and make him walk inside. So after I fueled up the Pilot, I did exactly what I just explained. I got the suppositories plus some of the laxative powder. I took everyone home and put on a mask of grim determination for the suppository event. I took a big jar of vaseline and put it nearby to coat my index finger. Then I got Nikko and set him before me for a diaper change. I unwrapped the suppository and snapped it in half because ages 2-12 needed only a 1/2 dose. Then I put it on the tip of my finger and pushed it in. Nikko didn't expect it and shifted uncomfortably, and I actually felt the blockage way up there. Then I wiped up, fixed his diaper, and ran to the bathroom to wash my hands. When I came back, Nikko was laying still uncomfortable and starting to whine. Mom had told me that I had to keep him upright and with his legs straddled to keep the suppository in for about 15 minutes, and so I picked him up in a hug and tried to hold him standing up as well as me sitting on the couch. Nikko was whining loudly, crying hard and screaming. He wriggled to get out of my grip but I held on tight. I realized that 15 minutes was a LONG time to try to hold him like that because he was flailing wildly and angrily. But after maybe 2-3 minutes, he pooped out the blockage. I cleaned him up again and tried to describe the poop. It was the size of a baked potato cut in half, or the size of two small red potatoes. I'm sure it hurt very much for that to be blocking his pipes. Nikko expelled a little more later, but all the activity exhausted him and he was sleepy before bathtime. I wouldn't let him sleep, however, because I wanted him to fall asleep at bedtime. Which is exactly what he did.

So Nikko is going to be fine, until the next blockage. I'm relieved that he should be able to go to preschool on Tuesday. I'm leery because he will have ABA tomorrow with Melissa and I won't be able to stay with them downstairs because I'll have Ronin and Audrey, no Denis to help watch the kids. I hope she will be able to handle a wilder, angrier, more physical Nikko than the one from last week. I am also dreading the Tuesday and Thursday sessions he'll have, but we need to start establishing a routine incorporating ABA. Oh, and Audrey was put down to sleep this evening, waking up an hour later with a fever. I REALLY HOPE she is not going to be sick the rest of this week. I am tired and exhausted from caring for Nikko 24/7, from Ronin being defiant and selfish, causing me to yell and tear up my throat AGAIN.