When everyone is happy and healthy, I am excited to post! I love to share about my life and my journey as a mommy. But when things aren't going great, I don't feel like sharing. I don't want to burden anyone with my complaints and sorrows. I would much rather share positive things and spread brightness. But as bright as my life is, it's also real. And real life is sometimes messy.
I shared last week that my youngest daughter was diagnosed with "constipation". She had been having stomach aches off and on, and many potty accidents both at home and at school. We took her to the doctor 2-3 times in two weeks, trying to get to the bottom of this issue. After many tests, the doctor suggested she just needs to poop. But the problem stayed, even after she pooped. And it got much worse.
Last Friday I called the doctor again, telling her that my daughter is in a lot of pain. She was complaining about her vaginal area burning. The doctor said she must have a yeast infection and suggested we give her over the counter cream.
I ended up taking my daughter to the Emergency Room on Saturday afternoon when it because clear that her problem was neither consiptation, nor yeast infection. We left the hospital with two prescriptions. The poor thing had a bladder infection and a vaginal infection.
Just last week, this photo of my daughter made me laugh. When I saw it I thought of a silly little 3 yr old who refused to go potty when she needed to. Now when I look at it, it breaks my heart. Now I see a little girl in serious pain, needing to be fixed but not getting help. She had complained about her vaginal area before, but she complained in the same way she does when the seam on her sock isn't lined up right, or when she gets peanut butter on her shirt... she would be really upset for 2 minutes and then run off and play happily.
Needless to say, the day I took her to the hospital, her complaints were loud and clear. She was in real pain.
I'm happy to say that she is feeling better now. We haven't had any accidents and she's her playful, happy self. I haven't fully recovered from it yet, as I have so much guilt for not insisting on better treatment weeks ago. I should have known. It all seems so obvious to me now! The million trips to the potty, the accidents, the tummy aches, the fussiness.
I'm also embarrased. Although they say vaginal infections are pretty common in little girls, what does that say about me? That I haven't taught her proper hygeine? Do I not clean the tub well enough?
I can't even begin to tell you how upset I am that the doctors couldn't figure one or both of these problems out in one of our many visits. Effective next month, we have a new pediatrician.
Anyway, that's my not so perfect life, in a nutshell.
So happy she is feeling like a kiddo again!! I had noticed you vanished for a bit, glad to see the bright side back!
ReplyDeleteHang in there, it's hard being a mommy. When my middle son was about four he ended up with a raging ear infection that I knew nothing about until he was literally bleeding from his ear. I felt like such a failure. Unfortunately as moms we will make a lot of mistakes but on the other hand there will be lots of triumphs!
ReplyDeleteSummer, you need to be kinder to yourself. Any mother would have done the same thing! We all would have waited it out until the problem became more clear or our get tells us somethings not right. You should NOT beat yourself up over this. She probably got the v. infection from holding it in since it hurt to pee. It has nothing to do with what you are teaching her. You are a GREAT mom! I know you don't want to see her hurting, but you did the best you could with what you knew. I'm glad to see you back, and glad you shared a little of what's been going on. Take care!1
ReplyDeleteSummer, I'm with Heather. Nothing you have done caused your little baby to be sick. And once you got the message that something was really wrong you took quick, and decisive action. When my baby was just 5 months old her fever shot up to 105.1! My regular pediatrician was off-duty, and his partner was a complete jerk. It took us 3 days (while Daddy was out of town no less!) to figure out it was an allergic reaction and what she needed was Benadryl. I was frustrated and angry that my child suffered for all that time when it could have been prevented. Needless to say, we also got a new doctor and now I just LOVE him and his whole office. The moral of this story is that you have nothing to beat yourself up about and you are a fantastic, devoted, loving, kind, caring, generous mommy!
ReplyDeleteSummer -- you are an attentive Mommy to take and take her again to the doctor. You know your daughter and she was in great pain. I'm glad your lil' girl will feel better soon. I understand that when all of that is happening at home you feel like you are in a whirlwind. Sending care ...
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm sorry things have been a bit rough!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter just had a yeast infection for the first time. She was on antibiotics for being sick, and then she got that. Same thing with her too, she was saying ow ow all the time, but then two minutes later she was fine. It's hard to be mommy and doctor. Don't beat yourself up over it. It's always so obvious once we know the answer.
I'm sorry about your sweet little girls infection. Please don't beat yourself up about it. It's not like you ignored it, you did take her 2-3 times in the course of a couple of weeks. We are not doctors, we are moms, and so sometimes we divert to the "experts" and they are not always experts as well. At the end of the day you trusted your instincts and took her in to get to the bottom of the situation. And re: complaining, I tell my kids ALL. THE. TIME, "if you scream like your fingers being cut off for every little thing, I won't really know when your finger is being chopped off!" It is so hard to gauge their pain sometimes because everything can be such a big deal. Anyhow, glad to see you post and let us know what was going on.
ReplyDeleteI am just happy your little baby is better. Let's get together soon. :)
ReplyDeleteWe have all been there... and it is hard to not feel like you failed ~ but you didn't ~ You live and learn ~ =) when they are little they don't go into details about what hurts and how... it is hard to figure it out... but shame on that doctor for not even trying antibiotics ... I am so sick of them 'avoiding' them b/c of over use... it has to be on a case by case!! grrr... You are a great mommy! We all do that... we all learn... we all grow and sharing it helps & encourages other moms!! Glad she is finally on the mend! =) Just Jenn~
ReplyDeleteyes. me too. i am happy you found the problem and its all better. i am also happy you found a new doc.
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Hey Summer, I wanted to confirm what you said about my last post, re, blogs being real sometime and showing that our lives are not always 'perfect', much like you did here in your post. Dang we need to exchange email addresses so I don't have to put this in public! Anyhow, I think sometimes people only try to portray nothing but perfectness/happiness on their blog because its a place they can be a little un-honest, if that makes sense. I tend to try to write 'mostly' positive stuff because I moan and complain enough in real life that I'm kind of sick of hearing myself complain by the time I write! HAHA! My life is anything but idealic, but like all of us, we have so much positives in our lives that its nice to have an outlet to focus on that, instead bitching about blowing runny noses and finding goldfish stuck in your hair (true story) :) But at the end of the day we all should keep it real every now and then...that's how I connect with people and to their blogs. Anyhow, enough rambling. How is your daughter feeling?
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