The ear infection that won't go away

Last week, I blogged about darling daughter's second ear infection, her second infection in less than a month. After a follow up check up yesterday with a lovely nurse practitioner at my doctor's office, I learned that it will take a month for the fluid in her ears (which became infected and caused said ear infection) to be reabsorbed by her body. Until that happens, there is a chance that the fluid will become reinfected and cause another infection. A quick check of darling daughter's ears showed that one of them was still red. Since were almost finished with the amoxicillin prescription she gave us last week, she decided to extend it for another five days in hopes the medicine would clear up the redness in one of the ears.

Hours later that same day, darling daughter broke out in a rash from head to toe. Was it measles? Chicken pox? Or some kind of childhood disease? Or did she encounter something at the playground? Only another trip to the doctor's office (our fifth visit in a month) would give us a concrete answer as to what was causing the rash.

The culprit: amoxicillin. Apparently around day nine or 10, kids who have an allergy to the stuff can break out in a rash. Although she is showing a mild reaction to amoxicillin, she can't have any more. And other than giving her Benadryl and Motrin, we weren't given an alternative for the amoxicillin. I have my fingers crossed that the ear infection will go away. But with our recent track record, I doubt it.

Darling daughter still has her rash and I'm hesitant to take her out of the house. I know it is from the medicine, but I don't want to get strange or dirty looks from parents who will likely automatically assume she is sick with something. As well as being stuck in ear infection hell, we are also in self-imposed quarantine from dirty looks. As my friend T would say, good times, good times.

A new month, a new ear infection

For the third time in less than a month, we made another visit to the doctor's office this morning. The first visit happened in early May, where the doctor politely informed me that she was suffering from an ear infection. The second visit occurred two weeks later when darling daughter began to exhibit ear infection symptoms: a persistent cough and runny nose. It turned out it wasn't an ear infection, but fluid in the ears. I was told to use a saline nasal spray to help flush out the nasal passages in hopes of relieving congestion. Once the congestion was relieved, the cough would disappear.

Despite the fact she hates getting her nasal passages irrigated, the saline solution did help. But on Sunday, the persistent cough started up again. So once again, we made another visit to the doctor's office this morning. The nurse practitioner confirmed what I already knew once she looked into her ears: ear infection. And a raging infection in both ears at that.

So a big cheer for Amoxicillin. Although she only has had one dose, it seems to be working. And after we've successfully beat this infection, here's hoping no more ear infections for awhile.

Musical beds and an ear infection

We had one of the worst nights since darling daughter grew out of the newborn stage.

The last three night, or has it been four, we've been struggling through sleepless nights. Darling daughter is suffering from a wicked cough and runny nose, which would point to either a damn bad cold or allergies. My money had been on allergies as I was a bad allergy kid, plus the fact her barky cough sounded like a typical allergy cough.

Last night was the worst. Although she got to sleep relatively quickly, she woke up at 11 p.m. And for the next three and a half hours both me and dear husband tried to comfort our barking, snotty child. At one point, I was sleeping on her floor. Then dear husband and I changed positions. Staying true to her morning routine, darling daughter got up at her usual time at 6:15 a.m. And for the next hour and a half, she tossed and turned in my bed. No sleep for me.

Yesterday, I had the good sense to make an appointment with the doctor. While my gut was telling me allergies, none of the allergy medication seemed to be working. So this morning I took my barky, snotty child into the doctor, who surprised the heck out of me when he informed me that darling daughter wasn't suffering from allergies, but from an ear infection. An ear infection?!? You've got to be kidding me. I felt so bad. I had no clue. But at the same time, I was relieved. Don't get me wrong, ear infections are horrible, but I've been suffering on and off with allergies my entire life. Allergies are no picnic. I've heard the old war stories from my mom. At least with a cold or ear infection, it can be treated in a timely manner.

I've got my fingers crossed that we have a better night tonight and the antibiotics kick in soon. Right now I'm running on empty in the sleep department.