Mothers of DD's - please can you tell me what is 'normal'?

[ilovehugs]

Hello, my DD (4) has a surgically constructed anus due to a birth defect. She suffers from constipation, but is doing really well at the moment. She soils allot (getting better though) but we think that's why she had a UTi a few weeks ago. Since then, I've been giving her more help to keep clean and I've noticed that her vagina looks watery/moist all the time. She also passes some white/clear jelly type stuff but I think thats from her bottom because her bowel prolpases allot because of the reconstruction. We are seeing her specialist in a few weeks, but it the mean time, would anyone be able to tell me if it is normal at least for girls of that age to have a watery/moist appearance down there? I tend to worry about her quite a bit, especially 'down there' because of the birth defect and surgery.
Thanks and sorry for too much info!!!

Hi your poor DD has been through a lot, you must have been worried sick. I didn't want your post to go unanswered but to be honest was reluctant to say that my DD had something similar at that age. GP, nurses etc said it wasn't normal so we had tests but no answers, doctors tended to get bored of it once they'd worried us to death! That said, all things considered, it would be best for you to ask your specialist - definitely bring it up. I often worry it could be a long term hidden problem that will come out later - I had no one to ask about my DD, not the sort of thing you can chat about is it, and GPs don't tend to have a clue about paediatric gynae so specialist is definitely your best bet. Good luck.

Hi Burning Bridges

Thanks for getting back to me. Sorry to hear you are worried too and that you haven't got any answers.

After a bit of research, talking to HV and considering that it is not bothering her at all and she has no other obvious symptoms, I'm going to wait until we see her specialist in Decemeber. He is a pediatric, consultant surgeon who specialises in bowels. He did all of DDs , is a lovely and I trust his judgement. Unless it gets worse/starts to smell/or it looks or feels uncomfortable (at the moment she seems totally oblivious of it, happy and well) I'll wait to see him rather than subject her to being examined down there twice in such a short space of time. I don't want her to feel worried and I need to look after her mental wellbeing too. She will be a school in September and is still lucky to get through a day without at least one (if not three) pairs of pants being soiled. She needs extra help to feel normal and I don't want her to grow up feeling so very differenent and worried about her health all the time! I don't want to project my anxiety onto her too. As well meaning as it is!

Hope your DD is well x x

By the way, my research/HV conversation yielded nothing about generally waterness down there, only that...

• Yellowish discharge is common, easily fixed and usually no serious causes.

- White creamy discharge - thrush - Clear, watery discharge that smells can be from some types of bacteria (from poo that gets down there). - White/clear/mucus discharge happens at puberty. Although uncommon, very early puberty can happen in 4 year olds due to bad luck or other health problems, but there are usually other more obvious signs. - white/clear mucus exists in the bowel and can discharge due to digestive issues or when the bowel is irritated. -Vaginal tissue needs to be moist to stay healthy.

Hello again hugs, yes best leave it to the experts - my mistake was in asking doctors who clearly had no idea.

Thanks Raven - My friend gave me a new theory today. She said that the moisture down there is the way that part of the body keeps itself clean. She said perhaps that because of the soiling, there's a bit more cleaning it has to do and that's why it can look a bit watery. Anyway, like you say it's not good to worry yourself sick. I've got a plan of action now and I'm lucky to have someone like our consultant to talk to soon.