taking DD in today for a cath!! :(

[boogiemomz]

so... DD had a fever about a week ago with no other symptoms, so we took her to the ped. he told us to just look out for a rash, ear pain, etc, because sometimes the fever precedes other symptoms. that night she developed a croupy (seal bark) cough, so we thought that was it. cough cleared up but she still developed mild fevers in the afternoon. she seemed to feel fine though, maybe a little more irritable than usual but mostly very active and happy. took her back yesterday because the afternoon fevers (slightly over 100, not severe) are still happening. physical exam was entirely normal, but CBC showed slightly elevated white count. we were scheduled to come back next week for a repeat CBC. this morning i noticed a small area with a very faint pink tinge in her diaper, suggesting UTI. a cath was next on the list anyway, and now its inevitable. i called the ped and they want us to come in this morning... they're going to cath my baby!!

i am seriously traumatized right now. anyone ever had have this done to your DD?? i can't stand the thought of her in pain... don't know if i can handle it!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Poor baby. Can they try bagging her instead?

Beth

[boogiemomz]

i don't know... how is that done? i asked the nurse on the phone if there was a way to avoid cathing her and she said "i don't think so."

[lmh2402]

i hope it goes alright and just remember that whatever discomfort she will feel during the proceedure is ultimately short term so she can feel all better soon!

[lilycat88]

We've done both cath and bagging. Obviously, the cath was more invasive but, overall, I'd choose that over bagging any day. It's quick and gets what you need without contamination. It's not pleasant for a few seconds/minute but it is really fast. She'll cry but will calm down quickly.

Good luck!

[JBaxter]

I would INSIST on a clean catch bag first. Yes they can do it. Cathing is HORRIBLE I have only ever had it once and will never EVER allow it to be done to me again.

[hillview]

We've done both with DS and I'd do the cath, it is fast and easy. He cried for less than 1 mins.
/hillary

[MaiseyDog]

We've done both cath and bagging. Obviously, the cath was more invasive but, overall, I'd choose that over bagging any day. It's quick and gets what you need without contamination. It's not pleasant for a few seconds/minute but it is really fast. She'll cry but will calm down quickly.

DD2 had bladder reflux and had about 5 UTI's her first 16 months (none since her surgery last March though, YEAH!). I much prefer to do the cath and get it over with. It's over fairly quickly and you know they got a good sample. With the bag, you have to wait around for them to pee and there is higher chance the sample will be contaminated. Also, I can see the bag sticking fairly well for a little boy, but with girls, there are too many cracks and things are too moist. For us, the bags never stuck longer than about 30 minutes so if she didn't go, we had to change the bag. In the end, the cath was much easier in the long run.

[smiles33]

OP: I agree w/MaiseyDog re: the cath. Hope your DD is ok!

MaiseyDog: I'm so sorry your poor DD had 5 UTIs and relieved to hear surgery helped! DD1 was 3 weeks old when she developed an unusual fever and they had to cath her after the spinal tap ruled out meningitis. She had a UTI and kept her in the hospital Special Care Nursery for a week since she was so young. They feared it was a reflux issue but we lucked out. After 6 months of prophylactic (sp?) antibiotics, further testing showed she was fine. Still, she had several caths and she'd cry for 10 seconds or less and then calm down.

[boogiemomz]

oh my! some of you have been through much worse than this... how awful! so sorry to hear about those experiences and glad to hear everyone is better now!

well, we took her in and had the cath, and it was much worse on me than her, i think. i think it bothered her more having to be held down than the actual cath did. there was trace blood in the sample but not more than they would reasonably expect just from the catheter, so they do not think it's a UTI (they said the pink/orange tinge in the diaper could be from crystals in the urine that are harmless). they repeated her CBC today and it is slightly down from yesterday but still elevated. i have her home napping now and i'm just supposed to keep an eye on the temperature to see if it goes up. they're not sure what is going on, but her behavior doesn't suggest that she's very uncomfortable. hope it's nothing! thanks for talking me off the ledge!!