Tests and so on
Miranda went yesterday to have some tests done on her bladder. First the good news: everything appears to be normal.
The actual procedures were fairly upsetting to her, though. The first, an ultrasound, was fine with her until they turned her onto her side and then her tummy so they could move the probe around her body. I don't think it was actually hurting her (she wasn't complaining when she was lying on her back), but she wasn't comfortable and once she started crying, she wouldn't stop until I picked her up and cuddled her and calmed her down once the procedure was done.
The second test... Let's just say I'm glad I wasn't there to see it. It's an x-ray procedure, and they fill the baby's bladder with a radio-reflective liquid and then watch it to see where it goes. The thing that she (and I) found upsetting was that they do this by inserting a catheter into the bladder.
Thankfully, this won't have to be repeated, although if she continues to get urinary tract infections, she may have to have another ultrasound at some point. I can live with the ultrasound, since it was just uncomfortable and not intrusive.
So, in the end we now know that everything is pretty much okay, as far as anyone could tell. The UTI was probably just "one of those things". Let's hope so, anyway.
Oh, and today she seems to be in a fine mood. Yesterday, she was pretty cranky (can you blame her?), but she's in good form now.
Posted on Friday, 29 March 2002
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All better
Miranda seems to have recovered fully from her illness. She is her usual easy-going, happy baby self again, much to my relief. She's smiling a lot now, and cooing and making noises that sound like laughter, and she's just unbelievably cute and very cuddly.
Tomorrow she goes to get an ultrasound of her bladder, to check for a certain kind of malformation that may be hereditary. If she has it, I'm not sure what they do for it, but I suspect it's surgery. No point worrying about it now, though. We'll cross that bridge when and if we come to it.
Posted on Wednesday, 27 March 2002
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Fingers and giggles
Miranda has learned how to consistently get her fingers into her mouth. She seems to favor the two middle fingers of her left hand, although she'll suck her thumb if she can find it.
She's also starting to make little happy cooing noises when she smiles. It sounds suspicously like the start of a giggle!
She's still a bit irritable after the UTI, but it's getting better and she's returning to her usual jolly self, which is good to see. However, the doctor wants her to get a diagnostic ultrasound on her bladder. I had chronic bladder infections as a child, and only really outgrew them when I was in my twenties. At the time I was first being treated, there wasn't much to be done for the problem (no ultrasounds in the sixties!), but there is apparently a lot that can be done now. Since there's a family history there and she's already had a UTI even though she's only a couple of months old, it seems a sensible precaution to get it checked out.
There are a couple of new pictures of her in the picture gallery if you want to have a peek.
Posted on Friday, 22 March 2002
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Infection subsiding
Miranda's UTI seems to be improving. She no longer has strong-smelling urine, she's not crying every time she wets her nappy, and she's not feverish. She is still a little crabby, and wants to be held a lot.
I also suspect that she may be developing oral thrush again, but I'm not positive. I do know that antibiotics can upset the system eniough to allow thrush to flourish, and I did see some whitish areas in her mouth. I'll just keep an eye on it and see hiw it develops.
Posted on Tuesday, 19 March 2002
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UTI
Miranda almost certainly has a urinary tract infection. All the syptoms point to that, and the urine sample we took today was very cloudy. It'll be a few days before we know for sure, because they have to culture it in the lab, but the doctor was certain enough that he already prescribed antibiotics for her.
There's nothing more pathetic than a sick baby.
Posted on Friday, 15 March 2002
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Weight loss
We had Miranda at the community health center today (yes, technically it's a health centre, but I'm American and I decided years ago to use my own dialect so that I remain consistent when I write), and it seems she's lost weight! She's gained height and her head has grown, but she's lost weight in the past couple of weeks.
Right at the moment, she's crying more or less hysterically as Andrew walks around with her in his arms. Something's definitely bothering her, as she normally cries very little and certainly never hysterically. She's been feverish off and on for a couple of days, and with the vomiting earlier this week, plus the fact that her urine is very strong smelling, all of this adds up to something being wrong. The health center nurse thought it might be a bladder infection.
We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow for her. I just hope we can settle her down tonight, poor little girly. I hate it when they're sick.
And on a more pleasant note, there are new pictures of Miranda, including a few smiles, in the photo gallery.
Posted on Thursday, 14 March 2002
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Snuggle time
Miranda has started to have a couple periods a day when she wants to be held. She just fusses until I pick her up, and then she settles right down. Times like these are when the sling comes in handy, but just at the moment she's sitting on my lap, resting against my shoulder as I type this. Generally, she has a cuddle for a while and then is content to be put into her rocker/bouncer and snooze or quietly look around.
Posted on Wednesday, 13 March 2002
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Sick baby
Miranda was sick this morning. She was restless all night, and woke up every couple of hours, which isn't really like her. Then, around six, she woke up and was fussing a lot, so I sat up to pat her back, thinking she might have a gassy tummy. She threw up all over my shoulder.
I got her changed, changed my nightshirt, and then held her to my shoulder again to rub her back, since she was still fussy, and she threw up again. Yuck. Poor baby had to get yet another change of clothes and she fussed the whole time. Eventually, she went back to sleep and snoozed for a few more hours.
She ended up being cranky until early afternoon, but when she woke up from a rather long nap, she was in good spirits again, and she's eating just fine. No idea what made her sick, but we'll keep an eye on it. It's probably just one of those things.
Posted on Tuesday, 12 March 2002
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Immunizations
Miranda is two months old today, officially. And today she duly had her two month immunizations. I hate having that done, because I hate to see the baby cry when she gets stuck, but I'm one of those people who believe that immunizations can and do protect from fatal diseases (in fact, I've got a smallpox vaccination scar on my upper arm because I'm old enough to still have one of those; smallpox is now extinct because of immunization!). I think a couple of sticks in the legs every few months is worth the tradeoff (and I've also read up on all the controversy and side effects, and I'm not persuaded that contracting and possibly dying of, say, pertussis, is preferable to the very rare potential side effects).
Anyway, the politics of immunization aside, Miranda got her first round of shots today. She didn't like the oral polio vaccine at all, mostly because they no longer use sweetner in it. She definitely didn't like the actual shots! I had Andrew hold her for the shots and then I took her, which seemed to work very well. Before we were even at the front desk of the doctor's office, she had snuggled into the sling and was falling asleep, despite the pokes in the legs. And now, late afternoon, she's dozing in the bouncer beside my chair, so she wasn't too terribly traumatized by it all. We did give her a dose of infant Panadol just to take the edge off any possible lingering pain, but otherwise, she seems to be perfectly fine.
I still hate having to do it, though.
Posted on Friday, 08 March 2002
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Two Months Old!
I can hardly believe Miranda's already two months old! She's doing well, growing and developing as she should, and she's a lovely little soul, although she's starting to show her temper when she's upset about something. Most of the time, she's a pretty content little girly, but when she's unhappy, boy, does she make herself understood! (Not unlike Andrew, now that I come to think of it.)
As for what she's doing now, she can hold her head up when you lift her to your shoulder. Sometimes she raises her tummy, as well, and she's getting pretty steady. She also smiles and coos, and she can and does swing her arms around and kick her feet when she's "playing". We have a baby gym (one of those things with toys suspended from a frame) and she's worked out that if she hits the toys with her hands, they move. This, I'll have you know, is apparently very exciting...
Posted on Tuesday, 05 March 2002
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