Movement

Any parent can tell you: we know a lot about poop.  It starts off right at the race chute.  You have a brand new baby and one of the first concerns is: has he pooped?  The yucky black tar that babies do.  Even the books on babies have whole chapters devoted to poop.  How much, what it looks like, etc.  Right up until your sweet baby starts passing what looks and smells like regular adult poop.

It only gets worse if you have a child with constipation issues.  You are obsessed with poop.  Did he poop today?  How much?  What was the consistency?  Do you need to up his meds?  Lower his meds?  And then add potty training.  It's a nightmare.

I remember when Jeff looked over at me and said "I never knew there was so much poop to talk about."  He wasn't kidding.   We had hours of conversations about poop. 

Hindsight is 20/20 as they say, and I know know that J1 has Celiac's disease and the years of constipation and issues with potty training can be attributed to that.  I wish Jeff could have known that it wasn't us, that we didn't fail in the 2 1/2 years it took to poop-train J1.  There was a reason.  There was a reason I talked poop for years.

Now I have a new obsession.  Fiber.  The introduction of a gluten free diet has had one remarkable effect.  It has made J1's constipation worse.  Thank-you, I needed a break!  There is no fiber in gluten free foods, generally.  So, we went from constipated to impacted in a month.  So, last week - I had my Halt and this week I went back to the nutritionist to arm myself with an arsenal that will effect movement.

Fiber.  Did you know that a child should get 15 to 20 grams of fiber a day?  Did you know that a "high fiber diet" doesn't mean the 20 but actually 30 grams of fiber?  Do you have any concept on how to get a picky eater to ingest 30 grams of fiber?  If so, you are hired!  Come see me :-)

So, I am embarking on the sneaky chef method of getting fiber into his diet, and J2 because what is good for 1 is good for 2. 

Black bean brownies, Magic movement smoothies (my own not-so-secret recipe), peas, corn, blackberries, flaxseed flour, prunes and prune juice.  It will be added to everything.  See I never know what J1 will eat.  He is a picky eater.  He can eat an entire pizza one day and nothing for four days after.  He will gorge on pints and pints of blueberries and then not eat them for months.  The same with strawberries.  So, I need to over-plan the fiber so that hopefully I can get some in him.  We shall see.

I know Jeff would be shaking his head.  He would be calculating how much longer I am going to continue to talk about poop and then he'd start thinking about a long motorcycle ride.  He'd be suspicious of foods at first and then completely forget that I've added prunes to everything never realizing that he was regular as clockwork for a reason. 

I miss having that interaction.  I miss having someone who could make me laugh while I'm facing  the daunting task of another major diet change.  I miss the fun of surprising him with the fact that he just ate beans or prunes or (lord help him, peas).  I miss my friend.  I hate going through this alone.

Sincerely,

Jeff's Wife