M.I.A.

Sorry I am not being a good blogger. Things have been pretty crazy around here at the Burns' house... a vacation, our 5th wedding anniversary, a visit to the ER, a stomach bug... just to name a few things that have been going on in the last month.

So, I guess I will update first on Emma's trip to the ER two weeks ago. Emma had been irritable and running a high fever, so Josh & I knew that Emma had some sort of infection. When her pediatrician looked her over, however, it turned out to be worse than what we thought. She was worried that Emma might have meningitis and told us to take her to Vanderbilt's Children's Hospital right away. They took blood & urine samples, started an IV and also performed a spinal tap. It was really scary. As it turns out, she had a urinary tract infection.

UTI's are very unusual for babies her age, so her pediatrician said we needed to figure out what caused it as soon as the infection was cleared up. So, this past Thursday we went to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital to have a renal ultrasound and a VCUG procedure performed where they put dye in the bladder to see if there is an issue with kidney reflux. We got the results back and Emma does have kidney reflux. On a scale of 1-5, Emma is a 3, and she has the reflux on both sides. The doctor decided that for now we will treat Emma with a daily dose of antibiotics to keep her urine sterile and prevent future infections and hope that she outgrows it in the next few years. Emma will be followed by a pediatric urologist in the meantime to have periodic studies of her kidneys to make sure that the reflux does not get worse or cause any scarring or damage to the kidneys. If it does not get better or worsens, than a surgical procedure may be required.

I promise to catch up this week on everything else that's been going on, including Emma's six month checkup. In the meantime, enjoy this picture taken during our trip to the lake: