Getting cultured

Despite my increasing old-and-grizzledness, life still manages to find a way to throw me a curve ball now and then. Such was the case yesterday.

For various reasons we will not go into here, we suspect that Andrea may have a bladder infection, and thus medical intervention may be necessary. So off we go to the pediatrician. Andrea actually enjoys going to the doctor, because the visits end with her getting a lollipop.

We are then informed by the pediatrician that the only way modern medical science can tell for sure whether there is an infection or not is to take a culture from a urine sample.

This leads up to me being in a bathroom at the pediatrician’s office holding a cup under my daughter for her to pee into.

But the presence of the cup stresses her out so she can’t go.

Since we’re not having any luck with the cup, I decide to break out the oldest trick in the book: Bribery. If she manages to squeeze a few drops into the cup, she will get not one but two lollipops.

Which leads to some heroic trying on her part, but alas to no avail.

Still, A for effort, so she gets two lollipops.

It is not until the evening we manage to get a sample, which we then—per doctor’s orders—refrigerate overnight for early-morning transport to the pediatrician…