Ok, everybody who read that last post knew that Cate was going to get sick the second that I hit “publish,” right? I wish I had thought about that ahead of time, because last night we got our first visit from the Ear Infection Fairy. And let me tell you, she’s a real bitch.
Cate basically howled all night. She’d sleep for an hour here and there, sandwiched between two-hour screamfests. I thought about waking Dave up to help me with her, but that’s as much a challenge as trying to wake the dead, plus she’s going through this phase right now that when she’s upset, she only wants me. She would’ve just screamed even more if I had handed her off to him, and try sleeping then, Mom! Ha! So it was just me and her. Awake. All. Night. Long. God.
By 8 a.m., I was on the verge of tears myself, so I called the pediatrician’s office. They got us in right away (not with Cate’s usual doctor, but I wasn’t in the mood to nitpick), confirmed my suspicions about the ear infection, and sent us on our way with a prescription for baby amoxicillin.
I also found out that Cate now weighs 22 pounds, 2 ounces. Holy god! Suddenly I’m really glad that I got the car seat that goes up to 30 pounds. I also learned that her weight plus the fact that she’s over 6 months old means that she can now have a full dose of baby Motrin, which should help with her discomfort quite a bit. I was scared to give her a full dose of baby Tylenol since I wasn’t sure of how much she weighed, and I know it can be hard for their little livers to process. It was kind of reassuring to have the doctor give me the green light.
Once Cate was in a good mood (thank you, Baby Motrin!), Dave took over for a couple of hours so I could get a nap, but I still feel like poop that’s been flattened by a steam roller. Hopefully now that we have the medication situation worked out, we’ll be able to keep Cate comfortable enough that she’ll go back to sleeping normally tonight. Fingers crossed, anyway.
Oh, ear infections are so sad! I hope you get some sleep tonight.
A word of pre-warning– a common after-effect of taking antibiotics in babies is a yeast infection (which usually looks like pimply diaper rash). Keep an eye out for it because it’s easy to treat if you catch it early, and HORRIBLE if you miss it (like we did– oops!). It won’t respond to Boudreaux’s alone.
Thanks, that’s good to know, since all the doc warned me about was possible diarrhea. (Fun!) What the heck do you use for a baby yeast infection? I’m pretty sure they don’t make Infant Monistat.
Ok, I have that one under control. Ask for “Happy Hiney” from your pediatritian. Miss C’s first real diaper rash was a doozie and she ended up developing a yeast infection. You can stave off most rashes by using this wonder cream of the pediatric gods. We carry it around with us on trips “just in case” we need it. The first sign of a red butt and Miss C gets a little dose which, indeed, makes her hiney happy!
Gaby has had chronic ear infections since she was about 2 weeks old. (that one was fun, let me tell you)
In addition to the Happy Hiney, you can also rub good old fashioned Lotriman on her butt if she gets a yeast infection.
The diarrhea thing never happened to Gaby, but she would get constipated from the antibiotics. You already know what to do for that, but if I thought it was coming, I’d give her some diluted orange juice, which she loved and would keep her regular.
Also, it only takes about 12-24 hours for the antibiotic to work, so Cate should return to normal soon.
Well, if this morning’s diaper was any indication, we do not have to worry about constipation. Yowza.