I jinxed us...

That's what Maja would say.

They don't call them snot nosed kids for nuthin' and I was remarking to Maja this afternoon that we have been extremely lucky with Stella. In her almost two, while all the other kids in the daycare seem to be chronics, our little one has been really healthy.

Even now, as the domino effect took its hold on our family; from mom, to dad to kid, the snuffles and coughs passed, Stella was in a really good mood, her runny nose and raspy cough not withstanding.

Before she answered me, Maja said "quick knock on wood".

Then our child woke up from her nap. At first normal and happy then all of a sudden the look of terror as she grabs her diaper and whines then screams in pain.

I definitely jinxed it I think to myself.

Stella is definitely in some sort of pain, the only thing we can think of is bladder infection and we race to the child doctor on call for Sundays.

But first we had to find the place. The uni medezin klinik in Lübeck is big. Maybe not as big as Johns Hopkins or the University of Michigan campuses but big enough to keep you guessing. As we drive around and follow the sings for the child emergency room we find that there is no parking. So I sweep into the regular emergency room parking, luckily glancing at the sign stating that this is only for loading and unloading of patients. I'll have to re-park as soon as we find where we are going.

As we walk in we're looking for any kind of sign to tell us where to go. Do we go to the emergency room or do we go to the emergency doctor? I figure that there is no limb hanging off that needs to be reattached so we probably have to go to the doctor and guide us in that direction.

Then we turn the corner and my heart sinks. The entire hallway is full with parents and their sick kids.

Much to our surprise though we were helped quickly and within an hour Stella was examined, diagnosed and we were out the door.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Once we put our name in and were told which door to wait by, I went to move the car. When I came back I could hear Stella's cries echoing down the hall. I walk in the door just as the nurse is leaving.

How do you get a urine sample from a toddler that doesn't seem to want to pee?

You attach a bag, sealing it around her skin and put the diaper back on. From the looks of it, it was attached with superglue. It made me cringe just looking at it. We waited about ten minutes in which we tried to get Stella to drink and calm down through her fits of pain.

Luckily she did pee a little bit and the bag was able to come off. Then came the doctor. What a cool experience. First I have to start by saying that he reminded us of the "lars" character from serendipity but instead of brown hair he had curly blond hair like Hammy Haggar.

With the gentle demeanor you need to work with kids, he asked daddy to hold Baby while he did an examination of the doll. Stella stood nearby, clinging to mommy and the doctor let Stella look into baby's ear and mouth as he did so, so she was comfortable with what he was doing.

I'd read about this but haven't experienced this before. It had a good effect.

Then it was Stella's turn. She looked at him very skeptically as he probed but she was a bit more at ease than I expected. It was only when he wanted to look in her mouth that she started to have a fit.

The good news is, the urine was fine and from the gurgling sounds of her stomach the Doctor thinks it is a bit of a stomach bug.  And it seems that the worst is over.    

And yes, I take the blame, I jinxed us.