Hirschsprung's Disease

For those who do not know this disease, Hirschsprung's is a condition where a section of the large intestine either does not have nerve cells or has them but are defective. As a result that section is constantly constricted and prevents stool from passing.

My son was diagnosed with this disease at 2 months of age, my daughter at 1 and a half. They are not twins, by the way. I bore them 2 years apart. I delivered both my children normally without any anesthsia. At first they seemed to be physically ok. They were able to pass stool for the first 24 hours of life. Over the suceeding weeks I noticed that their stools got smaller and smaller. The frequency was getting longer and longer. Sometimes they did not pass stool for 3 days. The first month of was the most difficult. We not only had to adjust to the demands of a new baby but also to the disease that was yet undiscovered. They cried a lot and we just could not pacify them.

For Boo, my eldest it was by accident that I discovered and concluded that there was something wrong. He had high fever and the doctor prescribed a suppository anti-pyretic. When I inserted the suppository he immediately passed out a large quantity of very soft stool. I ruled out constipation because his stool was not hard. Plus he was breastfed which tend to make stools soft.

For Ysa, my second baby it was a like reliving a nightmare all over again! I saw the very same signs. I cried for about a week. I just didn't know if I still had it in me to go through the process again. We were still coping with the problems brought on with the surgeries Boo had now another one?