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House Hunting with IBS

I’ll admit it, I am that girl that likes to pop into open houses during the weekend. If I am driving around and see an open house sign, you better believe I’m going to take a look. Some say it’s not proper to do if you aren’t on the market for a home, but I guess you can call me improper. I love it!

Seeing houses, looking at floor plans and home décor is my thing. It makes me happy. I love to decorate and I love to renovate, so looking at open houses is a way to get inspired. However, as you all know, if you have IBS, doing anything spontaneous can come with a price. And there was one open house I attended that unfortunately fell in that category.

Let’s have a laugh together.

My IBS during an open house

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. My boyfriend and I went for an awesome brunch and as we were driving home with full bellies, we stumbled upon an open house sign. Of course, we had to go check it out.

This particular home happened to be a townhouse, but it was in a high-end neighborhood and the property was going for over a million dollars. Duh! Of course, I want to see it on the inside! It must be beautiful, and I bet the kitchen will be out of this world. I can’t wait to be inspired.

In we go, and the house was gorgeous. It smelled fresh, the décor was stunning and I was enjoying every second. This property had 3 floors. So as the agent was showing us around, the showing felt like it was getting longer and longer. One of my favorite things to look at in a home is the master suite. Well, in this case, the master suite was on the third floor, so I was on pins and needles waiting to get in there!

By the time we made it to the second floor, I felt my stomach gurgle. Oh lord, this is not good. I kept smiling and making small talk with the realtor. Thankfully my boyfriend also loves real estate, as he’s a general contractor, so he was able to chat away.

At this point, with each step, I’m clenching. I have to use the restroom and I am mortified. How on earth am I going to make this happen? It’s just me and my boyfriend in this home, just running off and using the restroom on my own would look weird. Not to mention, it wasn’t going to be very quick.

I was dying inside.

IBS flare house hunting

Finally, we made it to the third floor and saw the master suite. It was beautiful, but I couldn’t enjoy it, because all I could think about was sitting my butt on the toilet in the master bath. Then came the small talk with the realtor, since we viewed the entire property.

We were making our way down to the first floor, chatting away, and my boyfriend was doing all the talking.  He could tell something was up because I was so quiet. Well, just my luck. As we made it to the first floor there was a powder room. I politely asked the realtor if I could use the restroom and she said: of course!  Poor thing, if only she knew I was about to destroy it.

I tried to make it quick but I took a good 10/15 minutes. The whole time I could hear my boyfriend and the agent speaking to one another and I was so embarrassed while in the restroom – it was obvious what I was doing. Thankfully, there was air freshener and I gave that a spritz before I walked out.

All in all, it wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be. The 3 of us stayed talking for a bit longer, then off we went.

When I sat in the car, I looked at my boyfriend and said: “Well, at least the toilet in the powder room functions nicely.” We erupted in laughter.

Have you ever had an awkward IBS moment?  Share below, let’s laugh together.

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