Not the best of dayS

The past couple of weeks have been rough on all of us.

Kahili has been working a ton. 'Ihi has been fussy and sick. And me. I've just been trying to keep up with all the housework, keep my family well fed, and trying to give my baby as much love as possible. These things are hard to do when you are trying to do them all at the same time.

We have not been sleeping. Well, I guess you can say we have been "sleeping", we just haven't been sleeping much. And for those of you who know me well, you know that I need my sleep. I can honestly say that I don't think I have gotten more than a 4 hour stretch of sleep in since we were in Hawaii. That was almost a month and a half ago and it's not like I got tons of sleep there either. I think the night before we left, we got 5 hours straight.

Anyways, I am not writing this to just complain about not sleeping. I just thought that would be good to note for journaling purposes. Now, the reasons why we haven't been getting sleep are numerous. 'Ihi cut a tooth (Yay! I knew she was teething despite people telling me she was 'too young'). 'Ihi cut another tooth. She went through a relationships phase where she cried every time I left the room (She is still working through this but it is getting better. She sometimes cries if I hand her off to another person now whereas before she would just go and be happy.). She got a cold. And last but not least, she got a UTI (Urinary Tract Infection).

I would like to document our experience so far having a little one with a UTI. It is not fun. I feel horrible that my baby is in so much pain. So about a week ago, Kahili and I both noticed that 'Ihi's pee was starting to smell really bad. We just thought it was from something that she or I ate. When I think back on it, she would be grunting a bunch like something hurt and then we would smell it. I never would have put 2 and 2 together. She would fall asleep in her crib and wake up almost every 1-2 hours (for 2 weeks or so) grunting and not wanting to go back to sleep. She started getting pretty congested on Friday but I again just thought she had a little cold so I used the sucker a lot and just tried to comfort her. Mind you, she has been extremely fussy through all of this.

Sunday, we went about our routine but after church I wasn't feeling well and I could tell 'Ihi wasn't either. At about midnight 'Ihi woke and wouldn't go back to sleep. I nursed her and she fell asleep then woke up 10 minutes later. I picked her up and as soon as we sat in the rocking chair, she vomited. Everywhere. Twice. Poor baby! I felt so bad. I cleaned her up, changed her and she was falling asleep so I put her down in her crib and patted her back for a little while. She slept just how she had been for a week now, not well, waking a lot and grunting. At about 6:30am, I nursed her again and she fell asleep. Just like the night before, she woke up about 10 minutes later and as I was standing with her, she vomited all over the both of us. Kahili was all ready to leave to work but luckily he was able to stay while 'Ihi and I showered so he could take her and get her dressed again. He put her to sleep again and then went to work. I was on the phone with a nurse when he left and she said I just just make sure she stays hydrated and get an appointment with my doctor ASAP. Our appointment was in the afternoon.

When the nurse came in, she looked at all the symptoms I had rambled off and just thought 'Ihi might have a combination of a cold and a stomach bug. I asked about the smelly urine and she said she that is a symptom of a UTI but doubted that was the case because she didn't have a fever. She insisted they insert a catheter to get a urine sample to test just in case. One nurse held down 'Ihi's body while the other stuck the catheter in and got the sample. I was holding her arms and trying to comfort her but the poor baby was screaming so hard. I started crying. It took forever for me to calm her down. The nurses left and the doctor came back really fast and said her urine sample showed she clearly has a UTI. :(

Anyways, 'Ihi is now on antibiotics and will be for another week. I got a prescription today for her to get a renal ultrasound which the require for any kid under the age of 4 who gets a UTI. This is to make sure the infection is not affecting their kidneys and also to make sure there are no anatomical issues that made her get the UTI. I am for sure going to make this appointment for a time when Kahili can come with me because I will probably cry again. I feel so upset with myself that I was annoyed with her getting up so much during the night and being so fussy! SHE WAS IN PAIN! :(

I will keep you all updated with info about our ultrasound experience.