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andrewduckerSophia had a series of five UTIs over the last year or so. Five in total. After the third one we were referred to the renal department at the sick kids hospital, so that they could take a look.
And what they discovered was that she hadn't had five UTIs. She'd had one UTI. And four cases where she'd had inflammation and pain, but the urine samples had been negative.
Turns out that the issue is that children's vulvas aren't self-lubricating the same way that adult ones are. And unless she's *incredibly* careful wiping, and dealing with sticky things, occasionally she ends up with her labia getting slightly sticky and then chafing, and that then wakes her up at night in pain, and looks very-much like a UTI. So now she has instructions for a nightly shower of her genitals (sitting with her feet pressed sole-to-sole) along with a little soap - Jane was surprised to discover that they only recommend against scented soaps.
Her carers were delighted/amused to discover that when she explained all of this to her room at nursery the next day she used all the right language. Because Jane and I never saw the point of using childish language when the correct language was simple. Which did lead to the conversation with a doctor last time this pain happened where Sophia explained to the doctor that her vulva hurt, and then the doctor asked a follow-up question about Sophia's "front bottom". I had to try very hard not to sigh loudly...
Gideon, meanwhile, has yet to have his ears signed off, 5 days short of his second birthday. They do a test at birth, and that found that one ear wasn't entirely clear. So we were supposed to come back in a week or two later to have them test again to see if it had cleared.
And then because of the raging global pandemic this was postponed repeatedly until they tried again at 6 months. By which point the chances of him staying aseep while they put cold electrodes onto his head was zero. They insisted on trying a few times before deciding they'd have to leave it until he was 18 months, which is the point where kids are old enough to reasonably react to the standard sonic tests.
Yesterday was our second attempt at this. He wasn't terribly interested, and was quite grumpy the first time. Yesterday he was also pretty grumpy when we arrived (he has a cold, and has been unhappy with everything in the world on a regular basis for the last three days, and awake half the nights too, so we're all a bit fragile right now), but the testers did a great job of distracting him with bubbles and a slinky, and he was soon happy to be distracted with noises and toys.
They were able to check that he responded to various frequencies and volumes, and he did just fine with that. They were also able to get a detector into one ear which told us that it was *still* congested. Which might be because he had a cold (as he did the previous time too) or might be because that ear has never cleared. So we are being referred to Ear/Nose/Throat to have him checked out more thoroughly on that front, and back to audiology in three months to have them check him over too.
I was half hoping to discover that there was a problem with his hearing, as an explanation for his speech not having come in very much so far. But no, he's just not *that* interested. Will happily babble away, and there are definitely words in there - we've catalogued at least twenty. He's just behind all of the other kids in his room, and well behind where Sophia was at the same age. Hopefully it'll all fall into place soon!
And what they discovered was that she hadn't had five UTIs. She'd had one UTI. And four cases where she'd had inflammation and pain, but the urine samples had been negative.
Turns out that the issue is that children's vulvas aren't self-lubricating the same way that adult ones are. And unless she's *incredibly* careful wiping, and dealing with sticky things, occasionally she ends up with her labia getting slightly sticky and then chafing, and that then wakes her up at night in pain, and looks very-much like a UTI. So now she has instructions for a nightly shower of her genitals (sitting with her feet pressed sole-to-sole) along with a little soap - Jane was surprised to discover that they only recommend against scented soaps.
Her carers were delighted/amused to discover that when she explained all of this to her room at nursery the next day she used all the right language. Because Jane and I never saw the point of using childish language when the correct language was simple. Which did lead to the conversation with a doctor last time this pain happened where Sophia explained to the doctor that her vulva hurt, and then the doctor asked a follow-up question about Sophia's "front bottom". I had to try very hard not to sigh loudly...
Gideon, meanwhile, has yet to have his ears signed off, 5 days short of his second birthday. They do a test at birth, and that found that one ear wasn't entirely clear. So we were supposed to come back in a week or two later to have them test again to see if it had cleared.
And then because of the raging global pandemic this was postponed repeatedly until they tried again at 6 months. By which point the chances of him staying aseep while they put cold electrodes onto his head was zero. They insisted on trying a few times before deciding they'd have to leave it until he was 18 months, which is the point where kids are old enough to reasonably react to the standard sonic tests.
Yesterday was our second attempt at this. He wasn't terribly interested, and was quite grumpy the first time. Yesterday he was also pretty grumpy when we arrived (he has a cold, and has been unhappy with everything in the world on a regular basis for the last three days, and awake half the nights too, so we're all a bit fragile right now), but the testers did a great job of distracting him with bubbles and a slinky, and he was soon happy to be distracted with noises and toys.
They were able to check that he responded to various frequencies and volumes, and he did just fine with that. They were also able to get a detector into one ear which told us that it was *still* congested. Which might be because he had a cold (as he did the previous time too) or might be because that ear has never cleared. So we are being referred to Ear/Nose/Throat to have him checked out more thoroughly on that front, and back to audiology in three months to have them check him over too.
I was half hoping to discover that there was a problem with his hearing, as an explanation for his speech not having come in very much so far. But no, he's just not *that* interested. Will happily babble away, and there are definitely words in there - we've catalogued at least twenty. He's just behind all of the other kids in his room, and well behind where Sophia was at the same age. Hopefully it'll all fall into place soon!
no subject
Date: 2022-08-26 12:03 pm (UTC)We have a simple one that installed in less than half an hour, with minimal tools.
https://www.homedepot.ca/product/brondell-purespa-easy-bidet-toilet-attachment/1001130624
no subject
Date: 2022-08-26 12:43 pm (UTC)(At the moment she loves playing in the shower though, so I'm not rushing)