Hello! Hey, it’s Me.

2 Mar Health Update - UTI

WARNING: This is one of those posts that contains too much information - and one of those posts that your child would be HORRIFIED to read as a teenager!

This morning I took Colin to the urgent care.  Last night his male part was swollen and uncomfortable.  I called the nurse advise line and talked to the doctor on call who immediately suggested I take him to the emergency room.  After further discussion, we decided that I could watch for redness and oozing and/or inconsolable crying before taking him in.  This morning things weren’t much better, but I LOATHE the ER and the $700+ it costs to take my children there, so we decided to go to the pediatric urgent care center instead (and only pay $140).

Luckily, with Colin’s “potty awareness,” I was quickly and easily able to collect a urine sample for him (and wish silently that *I* was male so pee’ing a cup could be that easy for me!).  The doctor quickly determined that Colin has a urinary track infection and a topical infection on his boy part (I really hope the undesirable sites don’t tag those words, too!).  He’s on antibiotics now and we are still waiting for a urine culture to make sure he is on the correct antibiotic for the UTI, not just the topical infection.  She said that in some cases she prescribes a topical antibiotic cream,  but because his foreskin is still so tight, a cream wouldn’t really work.

So apparently it is very rare for a child of his age to have a UTI, even a child who is uncirc’ed.  This is really unsettling!  I will take him to his regular ped tomorrow and am expecting to leave with an appointment for a kidney u/s and some other procedure which involves dye in his urethra and this and that…I wasn’t quite understanding everything she was telling me.  The short of it is that having a UTI at this age is a major red flag for kidney reflux!  Ahhh!

Of course, like any mother, I’m convinced that this is *my* fault.  Do I bathe him enough?  Do I change him enough?  Is this b/c we switched back to disposable diapers?  The doctor assured me that it is not my fault, of course.  It just happens.  And we will get more answers later.

Meanwhile, I can’t hold Colin on my hip, can barely put a diaper on him, and he can’t sleep on his stomach b/c his boy part is so uncomfortable.  Poor guy!