The Day of the Poop!

Today has been one of those days as a mother that I'm SURE would make it into "Baby Blues" (a favorite comic strip of mine)! I'm calling it "The Day of the Poop!"

So, having a newborn is WONDERFUL! I could just hold him ALL DAY! It also means "getting things done" is a whole "new normal"! What used to take me an hour or two might take a whole week and even then I might just decide it's not worth it! Well, I got behind on grocery shopping and we ran out of dog food. My sweet husband ran to a local gas station one night after work (because the closest grocery store is almost 11 miles) and got some canned dog food. Understand, our 2 dogs have eaten dry dog food (no people food) ONLY - Kylee for 4 1/2 years and Betsey for 3! ONCE in a while at the holidays, Josh's mother would give them some "wet" food that we might mix in as a treat - but not much and not 3 days straight. Well, they had canned dog food for 3 days and ate it up, loving life. Sunday I went to the store and caught up on shopping and got 2 bags of their dog food (IAMS Lamb Meal and Rice formula). Then came Sunday night. We had one can of food left, so Josh decided to use it up.

At some point Monday morning, Josh told me that Kylee (our 4 year old shih-tzu mix) had been having diahrea over night. This continued most of the day Monday. Jacob and I had run errands and walked in to a house smelling like... yep, poop! Poor puppy - she's been house broken for years and tried to poop outside her wire crate by pressing up against the side - so there was poop in the crate, outside the crate and, yes, ON the crate. I threw all her bedding in the wash immediately and began scouring her crate after letting her and our chihuahua mix, Betsey, outside. Well, I let Kylee out frequently for the rest of the day. I thought maybe it had cleared up, so at bed time followed our normal routine, fed the dogs and went to bed. When Josh got home, he told me later she had pooped by the back door... poor thing, she doesn't WANT to poop in her crate or our house... sigh.

Then comes TODAY:

I called a local vet that is down the street from our new house and told them about Kylee. They said something is going around and they would need to see her. I told them we had to run an errand and would call when we got home. The errand? Well... Josh's truck died a couple of weeks ago - D-E-A-D! We got $300 for it... THAT dead! So, we've been car shopping (yay! So much fun! Such trustworthy people you can buy cars from! ;-p)

Not what we'd planned after having a baby and buying a house, but God is taking care of us and for that we are grateful! We thought we'd found a minivan we liked, but did not have a peace about it, so had to turn it down this morning and I'd been stressed about it for 2 days. Of course, they tried to sell us another van that had "just come in", but we were able to walk away. And our precious Jacob has been out for errands

for 2 days and was OVER tired by today. Just yesterday after being out for a few errands, he was fussier and wouldn't nap and had a rougher night. I don't know what tonight will hold after our day, but I get ahead of myself.

So, we get home from turning down the van and checked on our pups. Kylee's crate had some poop, but so did Betsey's! And Betsey had thrown up... she seemed really not to feel well. Josh had to leave for work. So, I called the local vet again and they had an appointment in less than an hour. I booked it for both dogs.

In the mean time, Jacob has not seemed himself. He's been rubbing his eyes often - not just when it seems he's tired. And his little eyes seem a bit red and puffy at times, though not always. I wonder if he's just tired or has an allergy to something. Josh's allergies have been acting up in our house and we think maybe it's the carpet. Anyway, he hadn't pooped today (here it comes, right?), and I was worried because he just didn't seem himself. I decided I wanted a really accurate temperature and the arterial thermometer isn't the most accurate. I'd yet to bring myself to take a rectal temp of my little guy, but decided it was time. So, I get his diaper off and had a cloth diaper laying under him to use if it seemed he was about to pee, and got the thermometer inserted to read his temp. It seems this was just the opening his little passage way needed, and, you guessed it, he pooped - on the thermometer and oozed right out onto the cloth diaper. I'm SO glad it was there! After that, he perked right up! He was smiling and cooing... guess a good poop and he felt better! I had to hurry with that clean up so I could get the dogs together and Jacob and both dogs loaded to get to the vet. BUT, at least my favorite boy seemed to be feeling better.

I get my dogs loaded in the car (with towels laid on the seat JUST in case) and get Jacob loaded... in the freezing weather. I can't help but be torn over where to lay my worry - on Jacob catching a cold or going out making him feel worse IF he already isn't feeling well... versus my poor puppies who so obviously don't feel great. Sigh... Lord, take care of my sweet family!

After the vet (who was great and really took care of my dogs) took fecal samples and examined both dogs, we learned that they both had bacterial infections and Betsey also had some white blood cell action going on - hense the reason she was so lethargic and seemed to feel worse than poor Kylee. I asked him if the canned food could be involved. He said it could have messed up their GI systems and made them suseptible to the bacteria running rampant. I felt TERRIBLE! Josh and I are long time dog owners and we KNOW not to just change your dogs food... sigh! And gas station canned food?? BIGGER SIGH. Well, maybe the bacteria would have attacked anyway, but maybe their systems would have been stronger... who knows.

Each dog got a shot to help them feel better plus 2 medications (one is like an immodium for dogs) and instructions as follows: 1 TBSP yogurt 2 times a day for a few days PLUS a plain diet of either boiled rice or boiled mashed potatoes mixed with either boiled chicken or boiled ground beef. They will be in Heaven!

I get them home and gave them the fast acting med - Betsey wouldn't take hers at first, even in a treat - so I had to, sigh, force it down her throat. She was just so lethargic! I set about boiling chicken and making mashed potatoes. In the process I managed to have the chicken and potatoes boil over on our glass cook top stove (I was afraid it burnt on) and the microwave over our stove went out after I used it to defrost said chicken. I went to the breaker box and flipped the switch - almost all of them, actually, just to be sure... nada. So, that's a project for the weekend - figure out if somehow I killed our microwave! In the end, though, after a couple of hours, Betsey perked up and she and Kylee took evening meds like they usually would and INHALED the mashed potatoes and chicken. I bet after the 3 days on this diet we'll have to wean them back onto their regular dog food! At least that was the vet's tip.

Oh, and something has gotten to MY GI tract as, well, let's just say I've had my share of immodium today!

Then, on December 28th we had ANTS - Texas fire ants - and they swarmed my son's bathroom... so we had pest control come out on the 28th and treat our whole home. This past Saturday, they were BACK! Most likely due to the weather change, but still... very inconvenient when trying to take care of my precious boy and have a routine. They finally got back in touch with me and could come out and retreat... you guessed it, today. "Come on over!" I said... it seemed to finish off the day to have the bug man come, right? But at least the ants have been treated and I can clean Jacob's bathroom and we can start using it again in a couple of days.

What an ADVENTURE! As for my dogs, I'm glad they are feeling better and seem to be on the mend and SO hope for NO MORE wayward poop overnight.... for the dogs, for my Jacob, or for me!

During it all, Jacob was a champ!! During our time at the vet, he slept in his baby carrier (YAY for Beco Baby Gemini)... only waking near the end. Then, when we were at home and I was having my kitchen fiasco, he played in his bouncy seat, had tummy time on his jungle gym mat, and some time on his back reaching for toys on his jungle gym mat. And now he has dosed in my arms on his boppy as I type this.

We are ready for a day at home! I was planning to take him to the local library's story time that is on Wednesday mornings tomorrow... it is the only Wednesday I'll be able to since I start work next week. But, with how I've felt today and how OFF his routine we've been the past 2 days, we may just stay home and have lots of rest and Mommy and Jacob time.

I must say, the dog poop almost did me in as far as gross-factor! Baby poop - MUCH more tolerable (at least at 9 1/2 weeks)!!

So, that is "The Day of the Poop" in the Bruffey household.

Cheryl: you are RIGHT - it all comes back to poop!

~ Elizabeth