Immune System 6th Sense

I'm now officially convinced that kids' immune systems have a sixth sense. Their bodies know when Mommy or Daddy has something big coming up and then, and only then, do they get sick.

I mean, both times Cate has had the stomach flu have been when Eric's had to staff 20 mile training runs in the morning (which means that yes, both times were on the weekend).

And then there was last night. All afternoon yesterday, Cate would scream in pain and tell me to change her diaper every time she peed. Mean mommy that I am, I told her I'd put her in a new diaper if she sat on the potty. In my head I kept thinking that maybe it had something to do with our switching to Target brand diapers when we've used exclusively Pampers since birth. She'll potty-train sooner or later and at this point, I'm just tired of buying her diapers (and see no point in starting her on the cloth stash we just bought Brennan). But alas...nothing to do with the diapers.

Around 8:00, after she screamed in the bathtub and while getting ready for bed, I called the pediatrician. She pretty much said to try a bath with baking soda and that if she was still crying after that, then it wasn't bad diaper rash, it was probably a UTI (urinary tract infection), and to take her to urgent care. Long story short: we ended up at urgent care.

Despite there not being much of a crowd there, we were still at the center for almost 2 hours. They did a UTI test and it came back negative. The doctor was stumped but decided to order an abdomen and pelvic x-ray just to make sure she didn't miss anything. Bingo! Cate was seriously backed up. And even though she has regular dirty diapers, apparently they aren't soft enough for her to pass very much nor are they large enough considering the amount of food she eats.

So in essence, her backed up system was pressing on her urinary system making it painful to relieve herself either way. We left with a prescription for suppositories and laxatives and instructions for a high-fiber diet. Luckily Cate fell asleep on the way home and slept in bed with me while Eric went to seek out her prescriptions at a 24 hour pharmacy. Then, being the rock star husband that he is, he put Cate in bed, unplugged the monitor, and shut our bedroom door. I slept soundly for 5 and a half hours (before I had to get up for school), while he slept on the couch and got up with Cate every time she cried out in pain from going to the bathroom in her diaper. Today he stayed home with her all day and endured a major diaper blowout-- the likes of which we haven't seen since her infant days-- that got things moving again.

I went to work. It was open house night. While my 20 minute commute normally is fine, it's hard to go home in between school and open house because I hit rush hour traffic coming back. So I usually just stay up in suburbia where I teach. 5.5 hours of sleep for a pregnant mama + a 13 hour work day (counting my 3 hour break between the end of school and open house where I attempt to be productive but usually head to the strip mall)= my theory that kids' bodies know. They know when Mommy or Daddy needs more sleep or when one parent won't be home or something like that. Because of course these things never hit when you have nothing planned the next day. When it's the easiest day of your week to handle a lack of sleep. When both parents can be home to clean up the mess and take care of the kid.

She seems to be on the mend, though her pediatrician, who followed up with us today, said it may still be 3 or 4 weeks for her to be totally back to normal. I'm hoping and praying for earlier than that. I like it when this face is happy: ~Melody :-)