VCUG

Some of you know that Amalia has had to take a low dose of antibiotics daily since she had a UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) a year ago (March 2007). That is a long time! The reason for this is because they found out that she had kidney reflux where the bladder's valves don't function perfectly and it causes you to have lots of UTIs. I won't go into detail but if you really want to know about kidney reflux go here.

Amalia had to have a VCUG last April for them to discover this. Now that it has been a year they wanted to check again because most kids grow out of this condition. Last year she was a real trooper and pulled through it ok. She was only 5 months old. Now that she is 17 months old I was really worried about how she would react with strange people sticking catheters in her girly parts and hovering large scary objects (the camera) above her. Well, it wasn't great. She cried most of the time (10 minutes? It felt like forever but maybe it wasn't even that long). A technician had to hold her legs down. Jon held her arms down. And I stood by Jon. We sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and a couple other favorites to calm her. But that didn't work. The doctor filled her bladder through the catheter with a special dye that the camera could detect so when she finally peed they could take a picture and see where the dye goes hoping that it would all go out one way and not up into her kidneys.

Well, good news! She doesn't have kidney reflux anymore! Most children grow out of this condition and we're so glad she did. No future surgeries (which could have been a possibility if it didn't correct itself) and no more giving her antibiotics every day. She actually liked the meds. It was a tasty cherry flavor. :P

Now let's hope she grows out of the egg allergy!