AndiGirl
Your Story Forum Monitor
Many of you may have already met me through the general forum, as I have CD. I have been keeping in this in for a while because I am afraid and do not want it to be true.
My husband and were married for years before having children. I had difficulties carrying babies to term and had suffered two second trimester losses. I literally felt like I wasn't ever going to be happy again after the second loss. To make a long story short, I was able to pick myself up, deal with the grief and the following flare-ups, and move on. I was actually okay with being childless in the early part of 2008. I had made peace with my situation. Low and behold, a cousin from my mother's side of the family was trying to contact Scott and I, because he and his wife wanted us to adopt their baby. They had too many children and were not able to care for another. We were honored and overjoyed. We brought our sweet little boy home when he was two days old.
Scott and I thought we were doing everything right. We bottle fed him formula until he was a year old. He had no problems weaning from the bottle. We started him on the recommended foods at the recommended times. He was a happy, healthy little guy. My mother-in-law spent time with us for a while when Alex was between 13 and 15 months. She was constantly giving Alex milk, fiberous foods, veggies, and fruits; healthy foods. My MIL loves to comment on my poor diet: limited veggies, limited fruits, white bread, very little milk. She seems to think that my CD would improve if I indulged in the foods that she was feeding my son. I quit trying to explain the disease and how I have thickened areas of my bowel that will revolt if I eat those things in the portions that are recommend. I noticed that a couple of weeks before my MIL left, Alex started getting horrible, urgent, and explosive diarrhea. It literally became a living nightmare during the summer of 2010.
Scott and I were blessed with a baby girl in March of 2010. I found out that I was expecting her when Alex was six months old. That summer was horrible because Alex's digestive troubles were at their peak. This diarrhea was very explosive, watery, and frequent. There were days when I wanted to curl up and cry because it seemed as though I was changing diapers all day long, between the two babies. Alex would have bouts about 10 times a day. It really affected our family and my general mood. The diapers, no matter what brand or size we tried never seemed to contain the mess. I was constantly washing sheets, clothes, the floor, his high chair, you name it. Some of my family members didn't want to hold him because of his many accidents that would get all over. I felt like I couldn't go anywhere because I was house bound waiting for another accident and huge mess to clean up. Feeding him was also a nightmare, as he seemed to have a messy bowel movement while still in his high chair. His accidents have caused many members of my family to lose their appetites. My mother came up with the idea of putting him in a garbage sack from his waist down while eating. I know that sounds very tacky, but it helped out with the mess.
We brought Alex to the doctor several times. They did numerous tests on him: checking for parasites, Celiac's Disease, food allergies, etc. Everything came back negative. I mentioned to the doctor that I have Crohn's Disease, but that Alex was adopted. He is from my mother's side of the family, and there is some speculation that there may have been CD on her side. We know without a doubt that it is on my father's side, but Alex is from my mother's side. The doctors were even more baffled because Alex was still growing and gaining weight in spite of all the diarrhea. Neither of his biological parents are big; however, after starting out small Alex grew like a weed. He is big for his age; 95-99% for his height and weight. His head is off the charts. Alex went through a phase of having terrible excema. I can relate, as I have it too. Allergies and asthma are the only known problems from his biological parents.
They couldn't find anything wrong with him, so we continued to do our routine of cleaning up bodily fluids. My brother although well meaning with a dry sense of humor, started calling our house, "The bodily functions house." I helped to care for my brothers kids off and on in the summer when school was out. My brother was a gem when he would offer to change Alex, giving me a much needed break. We both started noticing something even weirder. Alex's poop started smelling like vinegar or wine. My brother almost made me gag when he said, "His poop smells like bad salad dressing." It was true. I presented that fact to his pediatrician, she was still confounded. There was a big difference in the way Alex's poop smelled versus Beth's poops. Her's smelled like regular poop and his had a weird vinegar stench. That smell made it even more disgusting. In spite of being clean and washing everything down, our house seemed to smell like the vinegar poop all the time. I'm ashamed to say that Scott and I quit putting pants on Alex. What good would it do? They would only get soiled again, and it would be harder to notice another explosion. Alex was running around in a shirt and diaper.
Our pediatrician came up with a diagnoses that seemed to make sense. She thought that he had, "Toddler Tummy." She knew that we were feeding him some very healthy things in hopes that his stomach would settle down. She told us something that even she would normally have problems with. She told us to increase the fat content in his diet. We were to try adding bacon, and other foods with a higher fat content. We of course would continue to feed him healthy things, but needed to add some more fat to his diet. We also learned that he probably wasn't tolerating milk, so we switched him to rice milk and almond milk. We noticed a change for the better. The poop wasn't as explosive or frequently.
This is what I'm worried about: his stool is never really formed (it's always on the loose side), it still smells weird, he is not overweight, but his belly often looks distended. Other than that, he seems okay, and he is continuing to grow and gain weight. I wasn't diagnosed with CD until I was an adult. I know very little in the way of how CD affects children. Most of the books that I have read were geared towards the adult sufferer. Scott knows that I worry a lot. He also knows that I am a member of this wonderful forum. He is worried that I may be trying to put Alex in the CD category. That is very untrue. I am just worried. He's only two years old, so he has a whole life ahead of him. His digestion and elimination do not seem normal to me. I want to find out what is really wrong with him. I seem to be getting, "He's fine, don't worry. We can't find anything." I really appreciate advice and input from the parents of children who suffer from CD. If Alex doesn't have CD I would be overjoyed, but I still want to find out what is wrong. Thank you for listening.
My husband and were married for years before having children. I had difficulties carrying babies to term and had suffered two second trimester losses. I literally felt like I wasn't ever going to be happy again after the second loss. To make a long story short, I was able to pick myself up, deal with the grief and the following flare-ups, and move on. I was actually okay with being childless in the early part of 2008. I had made peace with my situation. Low and behold, a cousin from my mother's side of the family was trying to contact Scott and I, because he and his wife wanted us to adopt their baby. They had too many children and were not able to care for another. We were honored and overjoyed. We brought our sweet little boy home when he was two days old.
Scott and I thought we were doing everything right. We bottle fed him formula until he was a year old. He had no problems weaning from the bottle. We started him on the recommended foods at the recommended times. He was a happy, healthy little guy. My mother-in-law spent time with us for a while when Alex was between 13 and 15 months. She was constantly giving Alex milk, fiberous foods, veggies, and fruits; healthy foods. My MIL loves to comment on my poor diet: limited veggies, limited fruits, white bread, very little milk. She seems to think that my CD would improve if I indulged in the foods that she was feeding my son. I quit trying to explain the disease and how I have thickened areas of my bowel that will revolt if I eat those things in the portions that are recommend. I noticed that a couple of weeks before my MIL left, Alex started getting horrible, urgent, and explosive diarrhea. It literally became a living nightmare during the summer of 2010.
Scott and I were blessed with a baby girl in March of 2010. I found out that I was expecting her when Alex was six months old. That summer was horrible because Alex's digestive troubles were at their peak. This diarrhea was very explosive, watery, and frequent. There were days when I wanted to curl up and cry because it seemed as though I was changing diapers all day long, between the two babies. Alex would have bouts about 10 times a day. It really affected our family and my general mood. The diapers, no matter what brand or size we tried never seemed to contain the mess. I was constantly washing sheets, clothes, the floor, his high chair, you name it. Some of my family members didn't want to hold him because of his many accidents that would get all over. I felt like I couldn't go anywhere because I was house bound waiting for another accident and huge mess to clean up. Feeding him was also a nightmare, as he seemed to have a messy bowel movement while still in his high chair. His accidents have caused many members of my family to lose their appetites. My mother came up with the idea of putting him in a garbage sack from his waist down while eating. I know that sounds very tacky, but it helped out with the mess.
We brought Alex to the doctor several times. They did numerous tests on him: checking for parasites, Celiac's Disease, food allergies, etc. Everything came back negative. I mentioned to the doctor that I have Crohn's Disease, but that Alex was adopted. He is from my mother's side of the family, and there is some speculation that there may have been CD on her side. We know without a doubt that it is on my father's side, but Alex is from my mother's side. The doctors were even more baffled because Alex was still growing and gaining weight in spite of all the diarrhea. Neither of his biological parents are big; however, after starting out small Alex grew like a weed. He is big for his age; 95-99% for his height and weight. His head is off the charts. Alex went through a phase of having terrible excema. I can relate, as I have it too. Allergies and asthma are the only known problems from his biological parents.
They couldn't find anything wrong with him, so we continued to do our routine of cleaning up bodily fluids. My brother although well meaning with a dry sense of humor, started calling our house, "The bodily functions house." I helped to care for my brothers kids off and on in the summer when school was out. My brother was a gem when he would offer to change Alex, giving me a much needed break. We both started noticing something even weirder. Alex's poop started smelling like vinegar or wine. My brother almost made me gag when he said, "His poop smells like bad salad dressing." It was true. I presented that fact to his pediatrician, she was still confounded. There was a big difference in the way Alex's poop smelled versus Beth's poops. Her's smelled like regular poop and his had a weird vinegar stench. That smell made it even more disgusting. In spite of being clean and washing everything down, our house seemed to smell like the vinegar poop all the time. I'm ashamed to say that Scott and I quit putting pants on Alex. What good would it do? They would only get soiled again, and it would be harder to notice another explosion. Alex was running around in a shirt and diaper.
Our pediatrician came up with a diagnoses that seemed to make sense. She thought that he had, "Toddler Tummy." She knew that we were feeding him some very healthy things in hopes that his stomach would settle down. She told us something that even she would normally have problems with. She told us to increase the fat content in his diet. We were to try adding bacon, and other foods with a higher fat content. We of course would continue to feed him healthy things, but needed to add some more fat to his diet. We also learned that he probably wasn't tolerating milk, so we switched him to rice milk and almond milk. We noticed a change for the better. The poop wasn't as explosive or frequently.
This is what I'm worried about: his stool is never really formed (it's always on the loose side), it still smells weird, he is not overweight, but his belly often looks distended. Other than that, he seems okay, and he is continuing to grow and gain weight. I wasn't diagnosed with CD until I was an adult. I know very little in the way of how CD affects children. Most of the books that I have read were geared towards the adult sufferer. Scott knows that I worry a lot. He also knows that I am a member of this wonderful forum. He is worried that I may be trying to put Alex in the CD category. That is very untrue. I am just worried. He's only two years old, so he has a whole life ahead of him. His digestion and elimination do not seem normal to me. I want to find out what is really wrong with him. I seem to be getting, "He's fine, don't worry. We can't find anything." I really appreciate advice and input from the parents of children who suffer from CD. If Alex doesn't have CD I would be overjoyed, but I still want to find out what is wrong. Thank you for listening.
i remember when my daughter was a baby she suddenly developed explosive diarrhea that went on for months, and a very sore bottom too.. we kept changing all the formulas but nothing seemed to help - i was a my wit's end, so i can sympathise completely.
