Where Have I Been???

Where have I been you might ask....

Well, as you might recall 2 of the kids contracted strep throat while at VBS which wasn't the end of the world.  A little amoxicillan and 24 hours later they were feeling better.  Addison finished up her dose 10 days later which was this past Friday.

We attended a birthday party at the neighborhood pool that evening and on Sunday she began complaining that her ear hurt.  GREAT... another ear infection.  That afternoon after Church and lunch I ran her over the clinic and sure enough she was diagnosed with a middle ear infection so we once again started another antibiotic.  I was told swimming was fine since it was middle ear so we let the kids swim.

Now, in the past the kids have felt better after only 2 doses of drugs, but that wasn't the case this time.  Addison was up during the night several times and began running 102 fever and by Monday afternoon she was SCREAMING in pain.  I rushed her back to the clinic and she had to be held down screaming for them to check her ears.   This time we were told she also had swimmer's ear and we were given a topical medication.

Monday night... once again Addison was up multiple times during the night, but she was 'ok' during the day.  Her ears were still painful and she didn't want anyone near them, but she was ok.... until the afternoon.  Once again she began running fever and was miserable, so I made an appointment with the pediatrician (not the clinic) for the next morning.

Tuesday night, Addison was up throughout the night miserable and for the 1st time EVER we slept with one of the kids.  We have NEVER let a child sleep in our bed nor have we ever slept in our kids beds.  Once we put Jadon in a cot in our room after a head injury, but that's been it and it's served us well.  The entire house sleeps great at night.  But Tuesday night, I crawled in Addison's twin bed with her and remained there until Jerry came in to tell me it was time for me to get up.  I watched her throughout the night trying to get comfortable and I listened to her moans and groans.

My Mom has been out of town, but my Dad has been over helping and I think he's all that has kept me sane and not panicking the last few days....

Wednesday morning I had a doctors appointment at 8:15 which I could not miss and Addison had her appointment at 10:30.  My Dad took care of all 4 kids while I suffered at my appointment away from Addison.  I was happy to hear when I called home that she had fallen asleep on the sofa and had been sleeping all morning.

I rushed home and we took her to the ped.  He confirmed the middle ear and swimmers ear infections and educated me a bit.  A middle ear while painful, typically isn't painful to the touch since it's deeper in the ear.  Swimmers ear is in the ear canal so any pressure or tension on the ear is extremely painful.  The topical medication the clinic had given us was described as "a steriod with a pain reliever and bacteria inhibitor" but not an antibiotic so Addison wasn't getting better.  She is now on a topical antibiotic along with her oral antibiotic and while still not back to normal seems a bit better today....

So, I am EXHAUSTED.... STRESSED... and glad to see my baby doing better.