She’s back, she’s back!!!
And for the record, she would like it known that she did not miss me at all. Which is fine, fine. I’m glad she fully enjoyed camp with only a minor recurrence of symptoms and didn’t miss us at all. It’s not like I was here, covered with poop, wishing for her help or company. She’s getting so…BIG. (SOB)
My dress: Goodwill
Addie’s dress: purchased right before camp at Target.
After spending all day Friday collecting vial samples I learned a few things. 1.) You can’t scrape near as much “sample” matter from a diaper as you might think. 2.) Collecting samples is the single worst/grossest thing I’ve ever had to do as a mother. 3.) I finally feel like I could make an argument against having a large family. Not that’d I’d want to, just that if someone says “Two and through, because of the poop vial count risk inherent in larger families.” I’d understand. 4.) Edie is strategically planning her bowel movements for when she’s not at home.
Saturday, I took the four kids to the beach because if we were going to be parasite infested, we were going to be parasite infested at the beach. My mom is down, so once I got everyone onto the sand, it was great. The little boys played in the sand with my mom. Edie and Byron ran in the waves and I just laid there. I left the vials at home and tried to forget all about the last week.
Today we’re heading back down for a few more days with my mom, but I’ll be bringing the vials because even after several days I still have empty vials to fill. We’ll drop some sample at the lab on the way to the shore, then I found a lab close to Ocean City where I can drop off samples during the week. Hopefully once I get back, I’ll be relaxed and vial free. Fingers crossed!
But internet is spotty, so unless I can jump on an unsecured network, things will be quiet around here for a few days. Enjoy the non-poop filled archives and swing back at the end of the week for the exciting conclusion to ‘The Parasite Games.” Stopping by the rest of the lovely ladies at FLAP would be a good choice too.
Ok 1st – if you all get parasites before WE do you should win some kind of prize or something! 2nd – As a person LIVING in the 3rd world I am curious why you are collecting multiple samples? When the doctors here check for parasites they only request ONE sample. And because the ONLY parasite I’m OK with hosting is a hungry tape worm that magically eats through my lingering baby weight, (while I continue to scarf down tortillas and queso) I just to make sure we are up to date with western medicine. Anxiously awaiting your reply Happy in Honduras
Glad you were all feeling well enough to make it to the beach!
1. The more watery it is, the less you can get from a diaper. Oh, joy. But when I had to do it from my daughter’s diaper, I was given special swabs, which I had never seen before. Mysterious.
2. Be glad you’re not a nurse. Then the poop you’re collecting is not even that of your beloved children, but that of strangers. (Also, the volume adults produce is sometimes astounding.) And if you want to be able to remove someone from isolation in a hospital you’re going to have to keep sampling until you get clean samples. Blecch.
To alegacyofhope above, if you really want to know: Typically you have to turn in multiple samples because feces do not have a uniform composition and you risk sampling where there may not be anything. Usually this is more of a problem when the poop is more solid and you are testing for parasites or worms or eggs. Watery diarrhea with c.difficile, for example, and you’ll usually get it on the first try. So they usually ask for 1 sample from each of 3 consecutive movements.
Wow. If this is the grossest thing ever then I believe you and salute you. I *hated* messing with James’ g tube: the constant smell of barf, the sharting noise, the leaking, the thought of it even. I think I’d rather do the poop samples, but you know better.