Potty Training

Man....I thought Ella's potty training was going to be one of my biggest victories in parenting thus far. We spent four days at home after the first of the year and after very little coaxing on my part, my 2.5 year old seemed to have the hang of it.
So for the last month things went swimmingly in the dry pantie department. And then something happened. There are was a case of constipation, crying, mommy assisted pooping and lots of panicking. And my sweet child that has never had a problem pooping in her life is suddenly a wreck over using the potty. Uuughhhh...what to do?
Following the "incident", she started pooping her pants fairly regularly. She didn't seem much bothered by the accidents, she would just put her clothes, poop in panties and all in the clothes hamper and just redress herself.
Those of you that know me can imagine my reaction to finding several wads of poop. Not impressed to say the least and came down on her pretty hard. She seemed to understand, but then has continued to only be hit and miss.
I am not sure what to do next. Life has been pretty fast paced for the kiddos lately. So, even I am having a hard time with our lack of routine and constiancy. I think for the time being, I will just let her move forward at her own pace. If she uses the potty great, if not....oh well.
I guess the lesson here would be...potty training is about the child. I should have never considered Ella's potty training my victory. Believe it or not I am already potty trained.