Lana was "off" all day yesterday.  Just very teary, wouldn't nap, needed lots of extra attention, etc.  Naptime was really a nightmare.  She kept calling over and over, and I was fed up.  I even fussed at her.  *sigh*  In hindsight, not a shining moment of parenting, considering she was sick and we didn't know it yet.

Because she didn't nap, we put her to bed early.  She woke up shortly crying her heart out, but couldn't tell us why.  I resettled her, and she went back to sleep. A  little while later, she woke up hysterical because she had pee peed in her bed, just the tiniest bit.  She has not had an accident in I don't know how long, and she has only had one or two bedtime accidents in the 10 months she's been potty trained.  

I knew something was wrong.  As I put her on the potty to finish, that mama-instinct really felt like she might have a UTI.  When I pulled her off the potty, there was blood in the water, immediately confirming my suspicions.  I cleaned her up while Dan changed the sheets (thank goodness he was home!), and settled her back in bed while I called the nurse advice line at the pediatrician's office.  

While I waited for a nurse to return my call, she had another accident, with more blood in her urine.  At this point, I knew we would have to do something immediately, so I put her in a warm bath to relieve the burning.  As I sat there with her, a nurse from WakeMed called me back, listened to her symptoms, and advised us to bring her in immediately.

Super cool fact: WakeMed has a Children's ER.  Strictly for kids, with pediatricians on staff...we don't have anything like this in Alabama, so I didn't know what to expect.

Around 10:30, Lana & I headed to WakeMed, while Dan stayed at home with sleeping Tucker.  She was SO SWEET.  Just wanted to chat with me, asked lots of questions about the hospital, etc.  I have had UTI's before, and they are miserable.  Her sweet little disposition made me want to cry.

The Children's ER was amazing.  I can't say enough about it.  Really clean, kid-friendly, the staff was wonderful.  Lana was so excited that she got to watch Fox and the Hound while she waited!  The wait was thankfully short, and I was able to catch a urine specimen from her while we waited.

As we headed to a room, we ran into a parent of one of the children in my class at preschool!  I almost cried at the sight of a familiar face.  She was so good to Lana - turned a movie on in our room, bringing her popsicles, giving her a pillow to take home with her...just spoiled her rotten.  As she left the room after bringing Lana a popsicle, Lana said, "Purple popsicles in the middle of the night!  This is crazy!!  I'm so glad your friend is here, mommy."  

They got lab results back quickly, confirming that her urine was "dirty." They gave us a script, and told us that the hospital pharmacy could fill it, but it would be another two hours.  No thanks!  They discharged us quickly.

Going home was a bit of a fiasco...we almost ran out of gas, couldn't find a gas station, couldn't find an open pharmacy, had to wait 20 minutes to have it filled, Lana had to pee pee while we waited in the drive through.  Whew!  She was such a trouper - amazing what a little apple juice and some vanilla wafers from Walgreens can do!

We got back home around 2:30 a.m., which is really good considering all things.  She slept until 9:30, and took a good nap today.  She is back to her normal self, and says it doesn't hurt when she pee pees.  We'll follow up with Dr. Dirk this week, to talk about why this might be recurring.

We are so grateful to live in an area with such wonderful medical care!!