Slightly ridiculous

For the past two weeks, Abby has had some sort of strange rash all over her body. The first week I tried to play it the cool mom routine, not freak out, not bug the doctor (although that didn't' stop me from talking to a Nurse Practitioner at Hannah's first day of school-ahh, nice to have a mom in preschool who can field random health questions), etc. Which, if you know me, is a bit of a stretch. But I did a good job! However, after week one, on Monday we took her in to be checked out. Results -- no clue, wait till the end of the week, see what happens. So, Friday she went back. This time she saw one provider, who then called in another provider, both of whom reached the same conclusion -- no clue. UGH! I don't blame them for not reaching a conclusion - I mean it is an itchy rash with NO other symptoms covering, and spreading, all over her body. Very random. They ruled out a lot, but basically the next step is a urine sample and blood work, which they of course want to avoid because HOW DO YOU GET A URINE SAMPLE ON A 1 YEAR OLD? and who wants to stick a needle in a baby?

So, this weekend found us parading a naked baby past her potty all the time, begging her to go pee (something that she does do randomly). Of course, naked baby is almost 2 so it is like a game for her -- how much will Mommy beg if you keep saying no? This weekend produced no results, so tonight, after Kevin left for his church meeting, I parked said naked baby in front of the TV, on the potty, with a sippy cup of water and waited. Of course, dry as a bone. (And yes, I did hydrate her prior to sitting her down.) Eventually, it just got too late to keep her there any longer, so I started getting her ready for bed, keeping bottom bare, hoping. Well, eventually, she took about 10 trips to the potty in her attempts to avoid pajama time, and, miracle of all miracles, squeezed out about 2 drops. I mean, we are talking teaspoon amount. Still, it is something, so I dutifully put it in it's cup and in the special baggie and placed it in the fridge, thinking "the lab technician is going to throw this out without even trying because it is so pitiful." So, we'll see. Will her teaspoon pee be enough to unravel the mystery of her rash? Or, is my poor baby in for a needle jab (I vainly hope that the pee holds the answers and we can avoid the needle, but realistically, yeah, not likely)?

And has a teaspoon of pee ever come at such high a cost?