Lavigne has diarrhoea. Not a mild one but a rather serious one. She woke up on Tuesday morning and passed motion as she would normally do. However, everytime after she ate something, she would poo......not ordinary poo but the stools were runny, mucousy and GREEN! I made sure she drank plenty of fluids and gave her only very bland and plain food like toast, cream crackers and plain porridge. She dirtied her diaper 15 times on Tuesday alone and I took her to see the GP first thing Wednesday morning. As with the normal practice in UK, the doctors do not like to prescribe medication unnecessarily. I was told it was probably a viral infection and there was nothing he could give her except for Dioralyte which will replace the body fluid lost in order to prevent dehyration. Went home, no improvement. She refused to drink the Dioralyte and I continued to offer water every few minutes. She also started having very sore bottom even though I religiously washed her after each poo and applied good barrier cream. She cried miserable each time she passed urine or pooed. It was heartbreaking. Adrian asked me not to breastfeed her too much and I wondered if I had eaten something which passed through the milk to her. I stopped breastfeeding her on Wednesday afternoon thinking that perhaps it's God telling me to stop since Lavigne is already 18mth old. I tried to soothe her sore bottom by making her sit in a tub of warm water with some calamine lotion. It did the trick and she no longer cried from pain. Thursday....still the same....food goes into stomach....out it comes from the other end. I rang the health centre, wanting to bring her there but it was closed that afternoon for 'doctors' training'. Spoke to the 'after-surgery hours' operator and a doctor rang me back. Told him about Lavigne's condition and he advised me to feed her some water mixed with sugar and salt (1pint water, a level teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt) that is similar to Dioralyte but is more palattable. I was told to stop giving her solids and just continue offering water. This had been a dilemma for me. She had not been eating well for the last couple of months due to coughs, colds and chicken pox. I had been worrying about her weight gain. She had only started to eat well and beginning to get chubby only 2 weeks back and now there's another setback. If I don't offer her food, she'll starve and lose more weight than the diarrhoea had already caused. If she eats solids, her bowel will not have a chance to recover. What should I do? I decided to give her very watery porridge which she happily finished. Poor girl! She had been refusing to eat porridge for a while now. She must be so hungry she finished the whole lot of plain porridge with added salt.
This morning, brought her back to see the GP again. He told me she's beginning to have mild dehydration (which is worrying) and to bring her to the hospital should her condition remains the same or worsen by tomorrow. I was also advised to restart breastfeeding as it is the best source of nutrient for her now. Upon hearing this, I had mixed feelings. I was glad that Lavigne would happily empty both breasts which was already badly engorged and relieve me of further pain and agony. But I felt sad that I would have to wean her all over again another time. I know it's selfish of me to think that since she's not well at the moment and weaning her should be the last thing on my mind. But seriously though, I didn't stop breastfeeding because I wanted to wean her. I stopped because I thought it could be my milk she was reacting to and subsequently decided to wean her since my supply will dip once I stop.
Anyway, we came home and I breastfed her. What a relieve to me or rather my breasts! She had a good nap but passed motion again after she woke. This time round I noticed some mucous as well as blood. Not bright red patches of blood but streaks. I was really beginning to worry that something is seriously wrong with her. Rang the health centre again and spoke to GP. He asked me to bring her to the Paediatric A&E of St Peter's Hospital. Armed with my GP's letter and her soiled diaper, we breezed through the queue and was seen to promptly by a nurse. A very good consolation was that I found out she didn't lose weight (which was a big surprise). Then, she was seen to almost immediately by the paediatrician after the nurse. Amazing I thought. He was such a nice doctor who explained everything to me clearly and thoroughly. I was very relieved to hear that she didn't need to be admitted then as she only had mild dehydration. As they had taken a sample from her diaper to be sent off to the lab, we would have to wait till at least Monday before the result will be out as to whether she's having bacterial or viral infection. I asked him how she could have caught the infection and he replied it could either be food poisoning or she had come into contact with someone who has it. Gosh! Louisa will be at risk then! We remained in the examination room as he'd wanted Lavigne to finish a whole cup of Dioralyte. I had to squirt some into her mouth every few minutes. At first she resisted. Subsequently, she asked for more and finished everything in no time. I was puzzled as she refused to drink it at home. Then I thought perhaps it's of another flavour (blackcurrant). I was given citrus and blackcurrant flavours 2 days back and only offered her the citrus one. Silly me didn't try the other flavour. Sometimes I wonder why my brain doesn't work properly. So we went home with a bottle for another sample to be taken and brought back. Her last poo was at 12noon and her diaper stayed clean until after dinner at 6.15pm which was still green and had some blood again and 7.15pm which was green but no blood. AND! She refused to drink the blackcurrant flavoured Dioralyte and even rejected water! Argh! Thank God the well is not dry and she had breastmilk before she dozed off to dreamland. I had to bring the stool sample back to the hospital again. Please let her get well soon and no more illnesses for any of us as we're heading to Disneyland Paris in 2 weeks.
Didn't the old folks say that when a child has green poo, it means he/she had a fright or something? Lavigne did have a fright on Monday evening. We were on a walk when a big, black dog came running towards us. It was just a few cm away from us when it's owner called out to him and it ran away. I was bitten by a dog when I was young therefore am terrified of them. My heart was pounding away and Lavigne was shivering after the close encounter. She started having green loose stools on Tuesday morning. A mere coincidence? I let you decide.
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