Busy but not a good busy

Yesterday was an eventful day in the Auner household.  After grocery shopping, mommy was exhausted (being super woman will do that to you) so she went to lay down and take a nap.  The children and I went outside to enjoy the sunshine and warmth of what turned out to be a beautiful day.  The boys grabbed their bikes while Chloe and I made way to her swing.  Chloe seemed very sleepy and I figured once swing time was over she would lay right down for a nap just like mommy.  I couldn’t have been more right and wrong.

After about 30 minutes of smiling, swinging, and trying hard to keep her eyes open, I decided enough was enough and I laid Chloe down for an afternoon nap.  Her quiet rest lasted all of 5 minutes and she began crying out for someone to come get her so, of course, that is what I did.  I couldn't understand.  She was still obviously exhausted but didn’t want to (or maybe I should say couldn't) lay down to sleep.  Every now and then I saw her grunting like she was trying to push, you know….but couldn’t get any relief.  Constipation is a struggle we are still trying to get controlled.  Not enough help and she gets backed up, too much help and she fills diapers constantly and gets dehydrated.  Somewhere there is a delicate balance we are still trying to find.

So Chloe would try to get some movement going with no result (mainly because she was so tired) until she fell asleep in my arms as I rocked her and rubbed her back.  Once asleep, I would lay her down and 5 minutes later, like clockwork, we were back to pushing, rocking, and back rubbing.  This went on for about an hour or so until mommy woke up from her nap and took over the cuddling for me while I searched the local pharmacies for a child size enema.  The things you never thought you would ever have to ask for.  Apparently, enemas small enough to use for a 2 year old aren’t in high demand because most stores don’t carry them.  Thankfully, I was able to find one and it did the trick.  Chloe’s discomfort ceased and she was able to rest easy.

As if our battle with Chloe’s constipation wasn’t bad enough, Isaac (her oldest brother) was bitten by some sort of pestilent insect and he scratched it until he opened a small wound on his ankle.  Within a few hours his skinny little ankle was replaced with that of a chubby newborn.  You know, with those cute little wrinkles that form between the flaps of baby fat.  Only this wasn’t baby fat, it was swelling, and it wasn’t cute, it was kinda scary.  By 9:30pm a trip to the ER was in order.  We didn’t feel like it could wait till the morning.  The infection was getting worse way too fast.  So mom and Isaac didn’t get to bed until 2:30am and there are more meds to be taken and more days away from school in order to abide by doctors orders.  Sheesh.

So yeah, welcome to our world.