Jasmine had a big poo at midnight. We had given her enough laxatives to make a horse go and we had been massaging her tummy and making little bicycle movements with her legs in order to get her going. We were really worried and had a plan in place with our clinical nurse specialist to take her to hospital if something didn’t happen by this afternoon. People on peritoneal dialysis just can’t get constipated – it is too dangerous.
So, when we heard the rumblings and checked her nappy, we trampolined up and down on our bed and danced around her cot. Jasmine went back to sleep as she didn’t know what all the fuss was about. After that she vomited a little bit through the night: 1am, 3am, 5am, 6.30am and then her food pump beeped at 7.30am to finish. But I just didn’t care that we were up half the night and don’t now, even typing this cross-eyed. Jasmine has had a poo. Hallelujah.
It reminds me of the time at GOSH when she had terrible bowel problems after her catheter insertion operation. She was vomiting bile for the whole weekend and the surgeons were concerned that there was a kink in her bowel and the catheter would have to be removed. On the morning of her first poo, the lovely nurse told us that she had been running up and down shouting, ‘Jasmine has had a poo.’ And then when the consultant came in and asked how we were, I said: ‘Jasmine has had a poo.’ And he was very nice and said that he had heard. And I felt like such a plonker later on when I thought about it and Neil kept teasing me.
This morning around 8am I was lying in bed trying to sleep but couldn’t as Jasmine was singing in her cot again. So, I got to thinking how I love weekends as we don’t have to phone anyone about fixing things in the flat. Two minutes later there was a knock at the door and it was a man who had come to look at our light fitting in the bathroom. Fantastic. I love him! He has ordered a new part and Neil has taped it up as it is dangling over the shower and we need to get a wash.
When Jasmine was singing I sang back to her ‘Hello, hello, hello’ and I swear her next sing-song was a ‘hello’. ‘Did you hear that?’ I asked Neil. He did.
Neil is in bed today with a man-cold so Jasmine and I are nursing him back to health. However, she threw up most of her morning feed, so she wasn’t feeling none too clever either. They are both snoozing nicely in bed as I sit in the corner typing. Good job our bed is kingsize. I have told Neil he has to stay put and can’t take more things back to Argos today. I might even go back to bed myself. At least we don’t have to do much today – just put her on her machine tonight.
One other good thing that has happened is that Jasmine’s blood pressure seemed lower this morning (92). It could be a blip but I am hoping that it is a sign that we are taking off more of her fluid. I will check it again later. She had an extra strong dialysate bag on her machine Monday, Wednesday and Thursday this week to help strip the fluid. Last night we gave her a break. Strong bags are not so good for her peritoneum in the long term and they make her vomit more. However, she vomited most of last night so it wouldn’t have mattered. Today and tomorrow she will have strong bags. The plan is to get her into the best shape for her scan so they can get a good look at the heart and also just bring down this blood pressure. High blood pressure in a baby isn’t good. High blood pressure in anyone isn’t good. We have to look after our hearts. Mine is called Jasmine.