Never a Dull Moment

One thing that I have learned as a Mom, is that there is NEVER a dull moment after having a baby. We have been extremely lucky that Emma has yet to have even one ear infection, but boy has she had her share of illnesses! Between the H1N1, RSV, and the stomach virus, we have seen our fair share of her pediatrician's office and hospitals. This weekend was no different! I'll start from the beginning and will try to keep it short.

On Thursday morning, Emma was off to daycare like any other day. She was a little cranky in the morning but that really isn't anything new considering she is about to cut another tooth. Out of the blue, I get a call from daycare that she has a fever of 102.3. That's pretty high for Emma. So of course I call the Pediatrician and because we were heading into the weekend, they thought it was a good idea to come in and have her checked out, boy were they right. We had an appointment at 3:45. When I got to daycare I got really scared. Normally when I walk in the room to pick Emma up, her face lights up, she waves her arms in the air and then bursts into tears until I come pick her up. This time, she was cuddled in the corner, asleep in one of her teachers arms. She woke up as I was packing up her things and didn't move an inch. She never sat up, she never uttered a sound, cracked a smile, or even cried. She just laid there. Off to the doctors we went.

When we got to her Pediatricians her temperature was over 103. After talking to one of the doctors there (her doctor was out of the office all week) they really couldn't find what the problem was. Her throat was red, but not very red. Her right ear was a little red, but not red enough to be an ear infection. She had no runny nose. No diarrhea. She ate fine that day. Words were mentioned like meningitis, urinary track infection, roseola, etc. But nothing was conclusive and Emma could barely hold her head up. After about 2 hours and consultations with other doctors they decided to run some tests because if we ended up at the hospital that night, they would just do the same. Emma did not appreciate it and Mommy was almost in tears because of having to the person to hold her down. She first got a catheter (again) to check her urine. After waiting for the short dip test (which again showed that things weren't right, but not off enough to make a diagnosis), we were off to the lab downstairs for a CBC and blood test. When we got back to the room, Emma then got two shots of a general/broad antibiotic because there was something going on. We left after about 3 hours, and had very little answers. That night, Emma spiked a fever up to 104.8. Insert panic here. The only reason why we didn't run off to the hospital was because Emma was very alert and somehow, in a good mood at 2:00AM. After about an hour of Motrin, cold pedialyte and cool bath, we got her temperature back to a low 102. Yikes.

The next day, we were off to a follow up appointment, with a follow up two shots of antibiotics. Ouch. We didn't have much more information the next day but they again confirmed that it wasn't an ear infection or strep throat or anything respitory. I was really hoping that after her 2nd dose of antibiotics that this thing was kicked. Not. So. Much. We did get a call that evening though when it was confirmed that Emma has a Urinary Track Infection (UTI). Come again? That night, Emma once again spiked her fever up to 103.8.

The path forward was this. If Emma still had a fever by 6:00PM on Saturday evening we were told to go to the ER because at that point it would have been 48 hours since receiving antibiotics which should have brought the fever down. Luckily, we beat that requirement by the skin of our teeth, and Emma ended up kicking her fever that night, and hasn't had one since.

So now we are on 10 days of two doses of antibiotics per day. After that, we need to find out, or rule out, any reasons how she may have gotten the UTI. Until that time, Emma will be on a smaller dose of antibiotics daily. Next week, we will be taking her for a renal sonogram and a voiding cystourethrogram (sis-toe-you-REE-throw-gram), or a VCUG. The renal sonogram will show any kind of kidney abnormalities, like an extra kidney, a missing kidney, a swollen kidney, or a misshapen kidney, etc. The VCUG tests for something called vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) which is a condition where urine actually flows up from the bladder into the ureters. VUR is found in about 30% - 50% of children who have had a UTI, and is thought to increase the risk of kidney damage. Mild cases of VUR are treated by a small dose of antibiotics taken for several years, as children can eventually outgrow it. Severe cases are treated with surgery. So, I am waiting to freak out about those tests until next week. Right now, I am just happy to have my normal temperature-ed baby back.

I am sure there is a lot that I am missing in this story, despite being the longest post ever, but frankly I haven't slept well since last Wednesday and I feel very run down and am getting another cold. The only thing that I keep trying to remember is that Emma will not remember any of this. She will thankfully not remember screaming at the top of her lungs while Mommy was forced to hold her down on the doctors table. Unfortunately though, Mommy will always remember having to put Emma through this, and sobbing after it was all done because of the look on Emma's face that just wanted to know why Mommy wasn't taking away the pain.