FULL OF IT

James has been complaining off and on over the past two weeks about his belly hurting. Last Monday he complained enough that his teacher called us to come get him at lunch time, so he and Cora spent the afternoon at home with daddy, where the only thing out of the ordinary behavior (or health) wise for James was three big trips to the bathroom. When she called again this Monday (yesterday), we decided to just watch him closely and see how the day progressed, since he hadn't made mention of it all weekend long. And the day was normal, other than a few complaints about that belly. This morning he woke up complaining (in an extremely happy mood, but complaining nonetheless), kept complaining after a trip to the bathroom, and showed me where it hurt (not where I expected it to hurt if it was a bathroom issue) when I inquired. But he also quickly started asking me about not going to school and instead going to the doctor and getting his Kindle for the LONG wait in the waiting room... and thus I thought he might be milking the situation... but because he was pointing to pain right at his ribs (and not the lower belly, where I expected, if it was just a potty issue) and cringed when I pressed on it, my mama paranoia crept in and we went to see the doc.

 Hooray for enough time in the waiting room to play those Kindles!

 Showing me where it hurts...

Happy to be getting an x-ray, AKA a picture of his guts...

So, not totally unexpectedly, we found out that he's full of poo. 

"Severely Compacted" was the official diagnosis.

Our homeopathic doc recommended prune/apple juice cocktails (to cut the nasty taste) and a daily dose of milk of magnesia. And he said this could take a month or two to clear... it's that bad. Poor bud. Why is it always a poop issue at our house?... Better that than something else though, of course. The doc says it's pretty common at this age because kids are so busy and they don't take enough time when they're in the bathroom. My two cents? I think him converting to mostly standing to do his business is an equal culprit, so I've asked him to just sit for now and give his body a chance... Hopefully we can get rid of the belly ache sooner than later!