Jaelyn Update... again

Just when I thought we were in the clear and the nurse was calling to let me know her fevers were in fact caused by something viral, the results of her specimen came back with ecoli in them and she does have a Urinary Tract Infection. No problem... antibiotics (with some probiotics to help her little system on those harsh drugs) will do the trick. Not so fast. Babies that have UTI's (under age 2) they treat very aggressively because they are at high risk for having vesicoureteral reflux (VUR). In two weeks, Jaely will need to visit Phoenix Children's Hospital to have an ultrasound of her kidney's and bladder. They will also (this is where I started to cry) catheterize her again and insert a die to make sure there are no kinks in her intestines. It is a procedure called, Voiding Cystourethrogram or VCUG. What can happen in babies is instead of everything flowing out the way it is supposed to from the kidneys to the bladder, the urine flows backwards, from the bladder to the kidneys. This puts an infant at risk for kidney infection and kidney damage. If test come back positive, which I feel good that they won't, she will take an antibiotic every night for about 6 months and will have the tests again. Eventually, they say, most babies outgrow it after several years and no surgery is necessary.

I feel like this is all my fault. I should have been more careful with diapering her, changing her, wiping her, etc. but the dr. reassured me that if it was that easy, babies would be prone to this infection and get it all of the time. She said that I did the right thing by bringing her in when I did - which really did not make me feel much better because as her mom that is my job. Yes, she had Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, but after all symptoms were gone, it was not normal for her to continue her high fever. Even if it is not my fault, I feel horrible that my sweet baby girl has to go through all of this again. Putting the catheter in the first time was traumatizing enough. I asked about being able to numb her, our Pediatrician said it will be up to Children's hospital to decide. I certainly hope they can - I hate to see her in that much pain.