So I recently made a post and shared that ranunculus flowers are one of my favs. I began to think on and remembered why I love this particular flower so much.
Flash back to 2010-
I had taken maternity photos and had a newborn session scheduled for a few days after discharge with our photographer Amber Norris. See, as an experienced photographer, Amber told me that infants take better photos a few days after birth. Newborns under two weeks old tend to be very sleepy and easy-going and that would make the process more enjoyable for all but especially for Skylar.
Almost two days after discharge and just days before we were due to take newborn photos, in the middle of the night, Skylar started crying and would not stop. Now, I at this point was used to her crying at night because she had started an unwelcomed routine - around nine every night, she would cry until about three in the morning-but that's for another post! Anywho, this cry was different-she was screaming-and we couldn't get her to stop!
We rushed our days old infant to the the children's hospital emergency room (and let's just say the ride to hospital would give any episode of The Dukes of Hazzard a run for the money) where she was immediately seen with no wait. After every scan possible that night, she was admitted back into the hospital, with us not knowing what was wrong.
After a whole day in the hospital, the final diagnosis - a urinary tract infection (UTI). A UTI is bacterial infection that can affect any part of the urinary tract. This includes the kidneys, which make urine; the ureters, tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder; the bladder, which stores urine until the body is ready to empty it; and the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder out of the body.
As it was explained to us, normally urine travels this path without problems for most, but bacteria got in her urine-from improper cleaning by staff-from the skin around her rectum. It had created an infection and inflammation.
The symptoms Skylar displayed were:
Crying-the indication that urination was painful
Unexplained, persistent irritability
Refusal to eat
Urinary tract infections are usually easy to treat, but if left untreated they can cause permanent kidney damage and even kidney failure. Children under age 2 are more likely than older children to suffer serious damage, so it's important to catch and treat a baby's UTI as soon as possible.
Skylar had to have a voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG), which would show whether urine was backing up from her bladder into her kidneys. During a VCUG, X-rays were taken before a catheter was inserted into the bladder through her urethra. A liquid dye was put into the bladder through the tube, and more X-rays were taken to watch the dye as the bladder filled and as she urinated. The process took about 20 minutes. She had to have this procedure done twice!
Now, as a new mother days postpartum, you can image what a whole hot mess I was. Watching my newborn suffer in pain, watching this procedure being performed-a whole hot mess! Added to that, I had to be separated from my son, then six years old, because I wouldn't leave my newborn at the hospital alone. Thank God for the hubs and our extended family! Skylar ended up spending the next seven days in the hospital.
Once she was better and we were discharged, we were able to reschedule our newborn session but Skylar was weeks past the sleepy, easy going phase! Every picture she took, her eyes were wide open as if she thought she was going to miss something!
Her very first head piece that Amber used was, you guessed it, a ranunculus headband! Every time I see that flower, it tugs on my heart. It represents my sweet little's life and just how fast our world can be uprooted and can change.
