Sickly child?

Pancake and I spent our Sunday at the emergency room at CHOP. She had been cranky for a few days and then Sunday morning she was inconsolable. She cried/screamed for four hours with a short half hour break to sleep in her stroller. Mr. D took her for a walk to calm her down. At the ER they said she still had a fever (this was day five of having an on-and-off fever). They thought she might have a blood infection so they took some blood and gave her an IV of fluid in case she was dehydrated.

She was so sleepy and cranky and irritable. She just laid on me. CHOP is so great. Before the nurse put in the needle (which had the circumference of a piece of thread) she wrapped warm packs around Pancakes hands and wrists to get the vein to come to the surface so she wouldn't have to poke around to find it. She inserted the minuscule needle, drew two vials of blood and hooked up the IV. Then she taped up her hand and wrapped a hard felt thing around her so she wouldn't pull the needle out. The blood work came back normal.

Then they gave her a catheter to check for a urinary track infection. She didn't mind the catheter as much as the needle. The urine showed a high white blood cell count so they assumed she has a UTI. The doctor prescribed an antibiotic (this will be her third round since she was born!) and we were discharged. Luckily we didn't have to spend the night.

Mr. D and Doodle had come to the hospital with my toothbrush and a change of clothes in case I had to stay there, but the doctor gave me the good news just as they were arriving. Mr. D and Doodle had tickets to Sesame Street Live that a neighbor had given them so they took the car to the show after they dropped Pancake and I off at the train station. We took the train and then walked home. It was our only outside time on that gorgeous day.

We had a follow up appointment with Pancake's pediatrician today. She said the culture isn't back yet on the urine so we won't know if she's on the right antibiotic until we find out what type of bacteria caused the infection -- probably tomorrow. Then she proceeded to tell me why having a UTI at 11 months is not that cut and dry. When adults get them they go on an antibiotic and that's it, they're cured. When someone as young as Pancake gets one there are a number of things that may have caused it. The best result would be that some of her poop crept up into the pee area and the bacteria caused an infection. The other two options are: (1) when her urine leaves her kidney it doesn't keep descending to her bladder and then out her body, it sloshes around and goes back up, causing the old urine to become filled with bacteria and then cause an infection, or (2) her kidneys aren't functioning properly. To test for option one they color some fluid and give her another catheter and see where the fluid goes (comes back out or stays inside). To test for option two they give her an ultrasound on her tiny little kidneys to see if they're the right size for her age. If they are, then they're fine. If they're not then I guess we have further tests.

Right now she has another appointment in two weeks with her ped. Then she'll have an appointment six weeks from now to get another urine culture (no catheter this time).

On top of all of this, she's had a cold or a fever for the past month and a half. She had an ear infection about two weeks ago for which she was taking Amoxicillin. The doctor today said that her other ear is infected now and that it's a good thing she's already on Suprax for the UTI! Another ear infection! How can this be? I was always healthy growing up, I am still breastfeeding, Doodle was never this sick. It's disheartening to think that Pancake might be more susceptible to germs and infections. My poor baby girl.