Today really sucked. Morella woke up at 5 with a fever of 103. I gave her motrin, something to drink and then sat by her as she went back to sleep. Tim got up with her later, and I told him about the temp. We headed to Urgent care.

The doctor took a swab for strep -- and it was negative. Ears, lungs and heart were all fine -- which left checking for a UTI. Oh, her throat is a little red -- so I guess there is the possibility that this is just part of the virus and tomorrow she will miraculously be better.

We opted for catheter because it would be faster and get a cleaner sample. The problem with the catheter was the nurse who attempted it three times couldn't do it, and gave up because of Morella's screaming.

Onto a bag taped over her baby bits. We wait. We wait. She isn't peeing. How could she really when she hasn't really eaten or had much to drink? But she hadn't peed since that morning so I KNOW there was pee there. If only that catheter had gotten in .... :( We eventually left because she needed a nap. We drove to Costco on the west side because that was the only way we could go because of a paddle race, Maxwell street days and the dane county fair clogging up downtown traffic to a standstill. We got our cards and looked around for a couple minutes before MOrella melted down more. We left and went home.

She took a nap. We took a nap. She got up crying I went and checked and her diaper was pretty wet. Any liquid in the bag though? No. She proceeded to be hysterically upset for the next hour until Tim just put her back into her crib. I called the clinic and relayed the information. I waited for someone to call me back while listening to Morella howl.

I call them again.

They finally call me back and offer to have her come in for another shot at the catheter. I say okay, only if the woman who tried this morning was the person who was going to try this time. I will admit, I was very brusque with the nurse demanding what good it would do for us if we waited until tomorrow to try to get this sample versus this afternoon. I mean seriously.

We get there. The new woman was very professional and they were much better equipped to try. Tim told them to do their very best and that we would not be upset by her crying and to keep trying (unlike the first one). This woman did a remarkable job of trying, numbing her up with lidocain, better lights, thinner tubes, etc. She was sure she tapped her once but no pee. Morella simply had not enough to drink to produce any more pee. After about 10 minutes we had to admit defeat. Poor Morella.

She was bagged. A hole cut through the diaper with the plastic bag hanging out and instructions for us to try to get her to drink liquids. We tried for the next two and half hours in that stupid waiting room before her bedtime rolled around and she was done. We decided to take her home after they taped up the bag to her extra securely and try out chances that SOME pee would get into the cup.

Morella immediately went to sleep and I worked on cleaning the kitchen to try and purge some of this stress. I also cooked and finished one recipe and 1/2 of another (cabbage rolls). So far Morella hasn't gotten up and we checked her once to see that she was still dry as a bone. I wonder if I should look one more time before bed. I would hate to have her leak and sleep in pee all night with a plastic bag taped to your baby bits.

SO yeah. That is where we are at. I have another bag if this one fails for trying tomorrow, but there is nothing more to be done right now but hope that her fever goes away and that this was all for nothing and really just part of that stupid virus she has....

This day totally reminds me of the early days with Morella when we were struggling to figure out why she wouldn't eat, why she breathed so loudly and funny, why she cried all the time, all those doctor appointments with so few answers.

I look forward to the day when Morella can tell me what's wrong.