sick little girl

It seems like these pictures were taken FOREVER ago, but I wanted to document little sickie's fourth UTI :(  Makes me so sad to remember it! She came down with a fever in the beginning of March.  I assumed that she was coming down with a cold or the flu since tons of people were sick in our ward, etc.  After two days of fever, I took her in to see Dr. Joki.  She checked out okay, but due to her history of UTI's last summer, they wanted to do a catheter to rule out an infection.  I really felt like it was unnecessary because I hadn't noticed a smell in her urine like I did the first three times, and I am convinced that she got the first three from the pool.  Well, they convinced me to do proceed with the catheter, which was horrible.  They always have such a hard time placing it, and Brooke was really fighting them.  

Dr. Joki also wanted to start her on antibiotics in case it was an infection, since we wouldn't get the results back for 48 hours.  I didn't like the idea of giving her meds "just in case", but I followed through with the doctor's orders.  Brooke was breaking my heart.  She wasn't eating much of anything and was sleeping A TON.  She slept her normal 10-12 hours at night, and was napping for like 4-5 hours a day.  I was super concerned about her, but I was hoping that she just needed to sleep so her body could fight whatever it was she was fighting.  

We didn't get the urine culture back for almost 4 days (which was super annoying), but it showed a small trace of leukocytes (infection), so we finished the antibiotics, then had to return for another catheter to confirm that the infection cleared.  I really wish they could figure out another way to get a urine sample from a baby, but even more so, I really hope that Brooke does not have to deal with UTI's this summer!  

 I took this picture the first night she actually was playing with her toys.  Most days she would just say "hold you", and lay on me.  And she finally started eating popsicles, which was better than nothing!

It is the worst when your child is sick.  This time around, it really made me question myself as a mom.  I felt like I was doing something wrong, or that I wasn't doing something that I should.  Why did she get another UTI??  We bathe her every night. I switched to a sensitive body wash.  I never give her bubble baths.  I change her diaper frequently, and always right after she poops.  I just didn't get it.  Dr. Joki and the nurses would all just tell me that "some kids are just prone to them".  But that answer didn't really help me at all.  I mean, we did the VCUG and renal sonogram to rule out an anatomical variant that might be causing them, and the tests came back normal.  So, I still have no idea what I can do differently, or that I should start doing...so I just tried to take care of my girl while she was down and out :( And we have since added lots of cranberry juice to the daily routine to help keep those UTI's away.