MOTHER of all ear-infections!!

Just as we were beginning to relax about M's health - after her struggles with diarrhea - the E-Monster (Ear infection) struck! One day she came back burning with fever from the daycare and the provider said she had been tugging at her ear. It was so long ago(more than 22 days) so I have forgotten the details. But I remember, we took her to the pediatrician's the next morning and she was prescribed Amoxycilin. A 10-day course as is normal for an ear infection. No big deal, I said. She was supposed to get two doses every day so we gave her one dose at 8 in the morning and the second at 8 pm, just before bed. She responded to the second dose and was back to her regular, happy self. This was the same week that J had to go to NYC for his training. He didn't go away for the whole week, just left at 7 in the morning and came back by 7. But since he was commuting so much, I told him I'd take care of M during nights so he could get some rest. And M co-operated by sleeping through most nights. Still I got only about 5 hours of sleep each night, and sometimes less. No big deal, I said again, as I am used to pulling such "stunts". But I was also dropping off both kids and picking them up too. A friend helped out by having S ride the bus with her kids so I didn't have to drive across town to pick her up - this friend lives very close by. I'd leave work by 4, get home by 4:30, set up my computer and phone to work from home, then go pick M and S up, come back, give M her dinner and work from home till 7. I managed it pretty well too I think, but by Friday I was pooped.

Oh, and just to test my mettle, He-who-sits-up-there-and-has-a-wacky-sense-of-humor piled a few more things on my plate. Just for fun. Thursday, I picked up a VERY tired, no exhausted, S and by night she was running a high fever. 103. Gave me the heebie-jeebies. Cold-compressed her forehead. Told my boss I'd be working from home the whole day Friday, lugged both the kids to the doctor's next morning AND actually worked from home. I had a few deadlines to meet, a few meetings to attend (which I just "attended" over the phone) and a few reports to deliver. NOT a walk in the park - working from home with a sick kid and a sick baby, you know. With anxious coworkers "hovering" over for the urgent reports they need. One positive thing - S didn't have the flu or strep throat. It was possibly just some viral infection, most likely Mononucleosis (the doctor said) and passed out of her system in 3 days. She was back to school on Monday.

Friday morning, M completed the anti-biotic course and by evening she had developed fever again. High fever. And was drooling like a broken faucet. At first I thought maybe she was drooling because she was teething and maybe the fever was due to that too. But she was also gagging if she tried to drink/eat anything and threw up an entire bottle of formula on me so I decided to take her to the pediatrician's the next morning. In the meanwhile, I Googled her symptoms and found out that in babies excessive drooling may be a sign of throat infection.

Next morning (Saturday) the pediatrician checked her and found out that the ear-infection had returned. In my concern about the second round of anti-biotic that she was being put on, I forgot to ask him about the throat infection. We gave her one dose as soon as we picked up the medicine from the pharmacy and she promptly threw it up, along with her lunch. Since she had thrown every last bit up, even the Tylenol I'd given her before giving her anything else, I gave her another dose and she managed to keep it down. She was still drooling copiously in the evening and still had high fever so I called the physician on call and talked to her. I asked her about the throat infection and she said though the pediatrician who checked her should have checked her for throat infection and didn't, I had nothing to worry about as the antibiotics that she was on works for ear-infections as well as throat infections. By next morning the drooling had disappeared and M seemed to be on the mend. We also figured out why she was throwing the medicine up every time - it was bitter! So we started mixing it with water and the poor girl could barely ingest that but she made less fuss now. We still needed to grab her arms and force-feed her the medicine, but she kept it down now. By Friday, she had developed a cough. It was dry at first, then got phlegmy. We finished the anti-biotic course on Monday. The same day I got a call from her daycare that she had high fever (101.7) and could we please come an pick her up. I immediately called her pediatrician's office to schedule an appointment as I wanted her to be seen right away. This was at 3:45 pm. They said they'd accommodate her if I could bring her in right away but they close at 5 so I had to hurry. I work at least 40 minutes away from Norwalk, and then I'd have to add the time it will take me to pick her up and bring her to the doctor's office. I could get there by 4:45 pm and even that was iffy. So I asked J to pick her up and take her to the doctor's. The pediatrician who checked her declared her free of ear-infection and said there wasn't any congestion either. We were told to watch her and bring her back if the fever didn't go away. She was supposed to go in on Wednesday for her 9 month checkup and shots (which had been delayed because of the ear-infection). J and I were up most of Monday night/Tuesday early morning tending to her - she threw up 4 times in 12 hours and had trouble falling and staying asleep. By morning she was a little better but we decided to keep her home. I had a conference with S' class teacher at 8:45 am and we woke up at 8:10! I rushed off to the school while J got the girls ready and brought them to school. He dropped off S and handed over M to me. I emailed my boss that I'd work from home again. I am lucky that my boss is a kind, accommodating fellow. M was a little cranky and had low grade fever all day but otherwise she was OK. No throwing up, though she had a reduced appetite. By Wednesday morning, she was running a fever - 102.5 degrees. I gave her Tylenol and then rushed to the pediatrician's appointment. I knew they wouldn't give her the shots because of the fever but I wanted them to take a look at her. We found another ear-infection in the same ear. Third round of anti-biotic. I was getting more concerned by the minute. I had an important meeting to go to, so J took the day off and stayed home with her. We started her on the antibiotics but I made up my mind to go to another doctor for a second opinion. Fortunately our insurance plan allows us to do that without any hassles - we just have to walk in to any doctor's office and don't need any referrals.

I took a day off on Thursday and took her to a doctor we used to consult with for S when she was little. He took a look and said "You can give her antibiotics for the ear-infection and cure it, but it will keep coming back if you don't do anything about the congestion that she has". Turns out she had upper and lower respiratory tract congestion. She was prescribed a decongestant. I called her pediatricians back (it is a group) and told the physician-on-call about the second opinion and the decongestant. We agreed to give her one daily dose of the decongestant instead of the prescribed four and continue with the antibiotics. Just one dose of the decongestant worked wonders! Within 20 minutes of taking that, M was screaming at me because she wanted to share my meal. A first in the last 2 weeks! I made a plain dosa for her and she ate most of it! Her appetite is improving though she is very drowsy because of the decongestant and has been sleeping most of the day. But whenever she is up, she is cheerful and not cranky like before. She is even crawling again and running around in the walker. Maybe she feels better now, or maybe she is high!

We have to take her in next Tuesday for a follow-up when, hopefully, she will also get her 9 month shots. I am keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best this time. A lot of women who work with me and have sent their babies to daycare have assured me that this will pass once the flu season goes by and I am trying to keep my hopes up. Have done a little research on ear infections. They are caused when the nose is congested and the nasal congestion drips into the ear canal, fluid accumulates and becomes infected. Many times an ear infection clears up by itself, but doctors don't like to wait for it to clear up in babies under 2 because a severe ear infection can cause a temporary hearing loss which, in turn, can result in impeded speech development in small babies. There are some other reasons too, but I really am not in a mood to go into the details. I was concerned about resistance to antibiotics and the doctors (both, the pediatrician and the one I went to for second opinion) AND the pharmacist told me not to worry about it as M is not being kept on the same anitbiotics for a long period of time. I must have asked them about 23 times. I feel a little reassured.

Oh, and now I have cough, cold and a fever too! Hope April turns out better.