1 Mother 2 Another

The past two nights, Maddie’s
awakened complaining she needed to go pee. This from a child who
has not peed in the night, either in a diaper or a potty, for over
a year now. At first I thought this was a ploy to be up with Mommy
or Daddy, but last night Brian went in and she was crying, saying
she could already feel it coming out. Then this morning she had
such trouble going to the bathroom that she cried and sobbed on the
toilet.


Which is when I knew we needed to go to the doctor.

Yes, my daughter has her first urinary
tract infection, and it’s been a traumatic day, to say the
least. I’d cautiously dismissed the idea of a UTI yesterday,
even though there was a complaint of a bit of pain while peeing,
because she wasn’t running any fever. But as the doctor told
me today, fever occurs in UTIs only in infants.


The worst part of the doctor’s visit for Maddie was having to
pee in a cup. We tried once, but her potty “issues”
were only magnified by the pressure of having to go when she
didn’t feel anything, coupled with the fact that she had to
do it on a public toilet while I was holding a cup underneath her.
Many tearful moments later, we gave up and went back to the room.


Unfortunately for my girl, she learned that if she couldn’t
fill the cup they’d have to do a catheter. After I explained
that procedure she offered to give the cup another try and was
thankfully successful. Beaming with pride, she showed her sample to
everyone in the hallway on the walk back, accompanied by
Cora’s marching herald-like at her side, proudly proclaiming
of her adored sister, “Maddie’s pee! Maddie’s
pee!”


I wish we’d been able to get the medicine right away, but for
a variety of reasons several hours elapsed before she could take
her first dose. By then, she’d deteriorated so much she was
peeing in her diaper for the first time in months because it hurt
too much to hold in while she got on the potty. My poor baby,
sobbing on the floor, begged me for some medicine to make her feel
better.


There was a bright side to Maddie’s day – she got to
drink a lot of juice, something normally kept in reserve for
extremely special occasions, like a birthday. The doctor
recommended getting as much fluid in her as possible, even to the
point of letting her drink (gasp!) drinks we usually didn’t
go for. So Maddie had apple juice with lunch and a glass of
cranberry juice throughout the day. She decided to push her luck
and ask for a movie – something only granted when she’s
really sick and needs to lie down – but accepted that
rejection good-naturedly.


So today Maddie had her first taste of womanhood – a painful
inner infection. I’d been hoping to put this off for, oh,
twenty-five years or so, but guess with her pooping issues I should
be grateful it’s her first one. Unaware that some things are
best left unshared, she proudly told her (male) gymnastics
instructor today that she has a “hiney infection”,
leaving him to eye her warily and try to figure out how much of a
distance he should keep.


Prayers for a speedy recovery are greatly appreciated. I hate
seeing my little girl in pain, and frankly, I’ve gotten
spoiled with sleeping a solid six hours and this
middle-of-the-night thing sucks.