The Cup

I often find that one of the greatest challenges of motherhood is the doctor's office. I rarely get to go with just one child, there is almost always some sort of drama in the office, and many times the treatments that come from the appointment create a whole new challenge at home.  Friday was an experience I had not yet had though.

I have been lucky in that none of my children are afraid of going to the doctor. They really like their doctors and nurses and of course look forward to the sticker they get to choose at the end of the appointment. So when I told my 5yr old daughter she had a doctors appointment that morning she was not worried or apprehensive. She simply asked if she was going to have to get a shot. I assured that was not part of the plan and so she willing dressed and got ready to go. Now like I said before I rarely get to go with just one child. On this particular morning I had my 5yr old, my 3 yr old son, and the 10 month old that I babysit. So we packed in the car and headed out. Once we arrived Lil K confirmed that there was not to be a shot and happily strolled into the office. We did have to wait a little longer than usual but the kids were well occupied by the waiting room TV and the baby was entertained by the 2 year old boy who was giddy about the fish tank. Eventually we received the call to come back, I quickly gathered up all the belongings the kids had in such a short time manged to drop all over the waiting room and head back for Lil K's exam. Now the reason for our visit was that she was experiencing symptoms of a UTI. So the nurse immediately handed me a cup and said we'll need a urine sample. Having anticipated this moment I had given Lil K a bottle of water before heading to the office so I thought "this will be easy." (I should never have those thoughts.) The nurse was kind enough to keep an eye on the two boys while I enter the bathroom with Lil K in tow. We spent about 5 min in the bathroom and there was nothing. She just kept saying "but I don't need to go." I decided to wait until after visiting with the doctor and we could try again.  We went back to the exam room where Lil B and "I" were waiting and sat down. Within moments the doctor appeared. We discussed Lil K's symptoms and she agreed that it sounded like a UTI. Of course she would need the urine sample to confirm. She suggested that  we get Lil K some water and graciously offered to let us stay as long as needed to get the sample. By this point though, it's almost lunchtime, the baby (who had not yet had his morning nap) is no longer entertained by my singing or games of peek-a-boo, and Lil B is becoming harder and harder to distract from the spinning stool, rolling step stool, and the medical instruments on the counter. But I did want to get this taken care of so I think we'll wait 15 minutes.

Just moments after the doctor leaves Lil K jumps down from the exam table and says "I think I have to go potty." I open the door to grab a nurse for the boys, but there's none to be found. So I quickly round the three up (luckily I had thought to bring a stroller, something I had forgotten on previous visits) and make our way to the bathroom. When we get in there Lill K is bouncing around like she's going to burst at any moment.  I prep her and get set and NOTHING. She just sits there. Then says she's not sure she does have to go now. "WHAT?" I insist that she sit a moment longer, meanwhile Lil B suddenly starts doing the pee pee dance and crying "I have to go potty, I have to go potty!" and the baby is exercising his vocal cords. (I'm sure people walking by the bathroom were wondering what was going on in there.)  Lil K says "I think I can do it!" and squeezes her eyes shut and low and behold 5 little drops come out. (Sigh) I remove her from the toilet, put Lil B on and of course he could have filled two cups. We clean up and leave the bathroom carrying our sad little sample. I hand it to the nurse (which now there are 5 sitting at the desk that was vacant just moments ago) and she laughs and says "it's at least enough to do an office test, we'll just have to get more for the culture."

After the office test it's clear she does have a UTI but again we still need the culture. The nurse returns with a plastic bag containing a cup and instructions for our "at-home" sample. She tells me to drop it off anytime this evening, the office is also an immediate care and will be open until 8pm. I bundle up the kids and proceed with the rest of our day.. After lunch I drop my daughter off at preschool. When I return to pick her up 2 1/2 hours later she jumps in the car and says "I couldn't wait mom, I had to go." I'm thinking what is she talking about.  And then she says "they didn't have a cup at school." OH! Somewhere in our communication she had understood that the very next time she went to the bathroom she must use a cup. Now I don't know if she asked for a cup but I'm feeling bad for the teacher if Lil K was trying to explain why she needed a cup to go to the bathroom. I explained to her that it was ok we would take care of it when we got home. As we're driving home she says "I have to go to the bathroom really bad." Great we're 3 mins from the house and I'm going to miss this opportunity because we're in the car."HOLD ON!"  As soon as we pull in the garage we fly out of the car and into the bathroom. I prep her while she's dancing and squirming, get the cup and Yeah! Success!. Pop the sample in the fridge and now I can get on with my day and Lil K can quit worrying about peeing in a cup. Or so I think. A little while later we set down for an early dinner before our evening activities begin. In the middle of the meal Lil K asks "I need to go potty, do you want to get the cup?" Clearly I hadn't gotten across that we only had to do that once.

Later I get my two older boys ready to go to their basketball practice, I grab the sample from the fridge, toss it in the car and we drive off. As we're rolling down the road B (10yr old) picks up the bag with the sample and says "What's this?" "Your sisters pee," I reply. He quickly puts it down while C (8yr old) hollers from the back of the car "Let me see, I want to see it." ?Boys?

We run over to the doctors office and I run the sample up to the front desk. I explain to the woman at the desk what I have and the instructions I was given all while she's looking at me like my head is spinning and I'm spitting pea soup. She carefully picks up the bag and says she'll see if anyone is still back there but "no I can not leave the sample at the desk." Seriously? Even though it's after 5pm there a couple of nurses are still in the peds area and happily accept the sample we worked so hard for. Thank goodness. Now we just wait for the results.