Like Mother...Like Daughter...

Okay. I'm going to tell you about the three most horrible hours of my life.

Literally.

In my last post, I told you all about my wonderful ongoing urinary tract infection that I still have. Since that post, my doctor referred me out to a Urologist because he didn't know what else to do. The antibiotics weren't working, so he thought that maybe something had happened during my labor with Emmy causing some problems that the antibiotics weren't clearing up. So...I went to a wonderful doctor, who told me that the antibiotics that I've been on haven't been strong enough, and that he was going to put me on another antibiotic that he thought would clear things up. However...the downside of it was that I would have to stop nursing Emmy. She wouldn't be able to handle the antibiotic in her system. So, for the last two weeks (almost), I've been "pumping and dumping". I tell Tim that the worst part of my day is to sit and pump for 30-40 minutes 3-4 times a day...and then dump all that hard work down the drain. Ugh! Anyway...Emmy has had a diet of my milk that I had pumped and frozen before the antibiotic fiasco, and formula. Mainly formula. Okay...now that you know that little piece of information...

About a week ago, we took a super quick trip down to Las Vegas for the blessing of my niece Mia. When we got down there, Emmy felt warm to me. But, it's freaking hot in Las Vegas, so I figured that was why. When we got back on Sunday night, she still felt really warm to me. So, I took her temperature. She was at 101.4 degrees. Well...we had just taken her in for her two month appointment, at which the doctor told us that if she got a fever, not to be too concerned because she was past the age of it being really scary. He told us that we could just give her some Tylenol, wait it out and take her into the office the next day. No big deal. Plus...she had just started taking formula, and had her shots...and gotten home from a long road trip. She was acting fine, smiling and wiggling around like normal. When I checked her temperature in the morning when she got up, it was at 99.4 degrees. I called the pediatrician's office, and they told me to bring her in. When they checked her temperature then, it was totally normal.

However...when the doctor came in, he asked a couple questions, and then with a look of serious concern on his face said "I'm worried that she has menningitis". Total shock. Not the words a new mother wants to hear. He told me that they were going to take a urine sample, and then send me up to Primary Children's for some other tests. I was in tears. Horrible mother. That's what kept running through my mind. I'm a horrible mother. The nurse came in, put a tiny little catheter into my sweet baby girl. She cried, and I cried right along with her. I picked her up and loved her, and then waited about five very long minutes. When the doctor came back in, he told me that there was a possibility that based off of her urine sample she could have a bladder infection, but he was still not convinced that it wasn't menningitis.

I called Tim on my way to the car. Still crying. Still in shock. I was a horrible mother. He was going to meet me at Primary Children's. When we got there, they took her blood, ran some tests, and then sent us on our way. Tim kept telling me that if they were really concerned that they would have started a spinal tap right then. But I was still worried. Three hours after I first went to the pediatrician's office with her, I got a phone call from the doctor. He was no longer concerned it was menningitis. Huge relief. But, he was fairly certain she had a really bad bladder infection. He told us he wanted her to be on an antibiotic, and that he wanted us to come into the office again the next day.

At the appointment on Tuesday, he sat down and told us that it usually takes about 24-36 hours for a urine culture to show the type of bacteria that is growing. Emmy's bacteria popped up in 12 hours. She had one nasty infection. He said that she had probably had it for about 4 or 5 weeks. Again...horrible, horrible mother. He said that there was so much inflammation and infection it had gone up into her kidneys and turned into a kidney infection. He also told us that it was a blessing that I had to stop nursing. Because I've been on antibiotics for the last almost three months, she was getting them as well through my milk masking any symptoms that she might have had. Because I had to stop nursing, it caused her body to react to the fact that there was a lot of bad stuff inside of her, and she got the fever. He told us that she was very close to becoming septic and having the infection enter her blood stream. Oh my goodness!

So...Emmy, like her mommy, has a bladder infection that has affected her kidneys. On Friday, we have to take her to Primary Children's Hospital again for an ultrasound on her kidneys. Then they have to do this procedure where they inject a dye up into her bladder (through a catheter), and take x-rays to see if she has a urinary reflux. If she does, and it's not bad, then she has to be on a low dose antibiotic for about a year, and they'll check her again at that time. If she does and it is bad, then she has to have a surgery to correct the problem.

Feeling like a really horrible mother, I asked the doctor if there was anything that I did to cause the infection. Tim and I always make sure that we are careful with wiping when we change her diapers, and we never make her stay in a dirty diaper for very long at all. He told us it wasn't anything that we did. It's just something that happened. He also said that there was no way for me to know she was so sick. But I still can't get over the feeling that I should have been paying more attention.

Something really special that did come out of all of this was the knowledge that Heavenly Father was looking out for our family. I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't had to stop nursing. What was somthing of a nuisance turned out to be such a blessing. Tim was able to give his daughter a blessing for the first time other than her baby blessing. It was such an incredible experience for me as her mommy. I felt so much gratitude for both of them in my life.

After finding out about all of this, my friend Kimmi sent me a text message telling me that both my bladder and Emmy's bladder suck. It made me laugh :). Hopefully...someday...we'll both be able to pee normally again. Goodness gracious!