Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Another Doctor's Visit

I don't have much time to post because I have to take Tree Faerie to the doctor again. I'm not taking her for her cough and congestion, though she has another cold right now. Oh, no. Nothing as normal as that.

***Warning: Your stomach may flip. Mine did.***

I'm taking Tree Faerie to the doctor because her labia has fused together about 85 to 90%.

*waiting for the shock to dissipate some*

I first noticed it yesterday morning, but I wasn't thinking clearly yesterday morning. After her bath yesterday evening, I took a look again just to be sure that's actually what I was seeing. Yep, that's what I was seeing. So I did some research this morning and found out that 1-2% of girls between the ages of 6 months and 6 years get this. Apparently, if the labia gets irritated, either by irritants like bubble bath or a bad diaper rash or more sinister things that I refuse to think about (and I'm absolutely certain do not apply here), when it heals, the two sides sometimes heal together. It's not necessarily dangerous, but depending on how much is fused, it can lead to bladder infections and urinary tract infections, things I'm naturally prone to anyway. Thankfully the treatment is easy and non-invasive. If they decide to treat it, the doctor prescribes an ointment that contains estrogen that you apply to the area to help it separate, then maintain the separation by treating the area with Vaseline or KY daily for a while (hopefully not 6 years, though).

So, I'm off to the doctor. Coming soon - the review for I Love You More, a fabulous flip book.

7 comments:

Monnik said...

What a coincidence! Vali (Bumblebee) had this happen just last week! Because she's four, it's caused by not wiping well enough and she gets easily irritated there anyway. She actually unfused it herself (ouch - poor kid) and we've been treating it with vaseline and lots of cleaning.

It's getting better, finally.

Unknown said...

I saw another post about this same thing happening to another momma's baby recently...poor little ones! Our ped. recently warned us about this and told us to constantly separate them just in case. I haven't been paying any attention but I will now!

So sorry Tree Fairie!

Gabriella said...

the things you learn! i had no idea about this.

Annikke said...

Oh my!! How scary for you!! I hope all is well!

Random said...

eeep!

that's all i can think of to say. i hope that everything gets better in a hurry!

Unknown said...

I had never heard of it either until she had it...

Angel said...

Ouch...I had to squeeze my legs together at that one. Never happened to my girl, but my youngest boys circumcision got all messed up and he had to ahve another one...when he was 6!!

Hope everything works out!