The thing I mentioned yesterday about my eyes that I thought was just allergies? Yeah. It’s pink eye. I suppose it was inevitable, what with all the snot that’s been flying all over the house for the past couple of weeks. Ugh. So gross.
I managed to get in with Dave’s doctor today, since my doctor is in Bellevue, and I have a rule about not going there during the month of December. The Christmas traffic coming and going from the mall is insane no matter what time of day you go. Also, my doctor’s office pissed me off when I called by insisting that pink eye is just viral and they wouldn’t give me any eye drops for it because all I need to do is wash my hands more frequently and not touch my face. WTF? Has anyone else ever heard of this? Not the part about hand-washing, because I already knew that (and my hands are already chapped from the amount of soap and Purell they’ve been subjected to this winter), but I thought you always got eye drops for pink eye.
Anyway, since my eyes were killing me, and Dave’s doctor’s office is right here in the boonies, and they could see me less than 2 hours after I called them, they won. It was kind of weird because the doctor looked several years younger than me, and I’m not really used to that. But he gave me a sample of the eye drops so I didn’t even need to go to the drug store to get a prescription filled, so what can I say, I’m a big fan of his work. If my doctor’s nurses stay as bitchy as they were today, I may just have to switch primary care doctors.
Later I took Cate to the pediatrician to get her checked one more time before we leave. The doctor said that since her nose is still full of gunk, and this has been going on for almost 2 weeks, he’s giving her one more round of antibiotics. So fun. Also, she’s snoring like a lumberjack when she sleeps (I’m not kidding, you’ve never heard a baby snore like this), so we’re also going to add in some children’s Claritin to see if it’ll thin out some of the stuff in her sinuses. We’re already using a humidifier in her bedroom and those Pediacare plug-in things that put VapoRub steam in the air, so I don’t know what else to do.
I have to admit that I’m getting more and more nervous about the idea of getting on a plane with her on Friday. The pediatrician said that in addition to the Claritin, I can also give her half a teaspoon of Benadryl as needed. I’m interpreting that as permission to drug her before the flight so hopefully she’ll sleep most of the way and the pressure won’t hurt her ears too much. Don’t judge me, if you happen to be on the plane with me on Friday, you’ll most likely be thankful.
P.S. The in-laws left early this morning. It was really nice to have them here, although hopefully we won’t all be suffering from The Plague the next time they visit.
I think the point is, you have to go on that flight, you have to take Cate, so both of you need to be comfortable. If she can’t clear herself, she needs help, in whatever form it comes. Good luck!
I had pink eye a couple weeks ago. My doctor told me that the standard proceedure they go by is to give antibiotic drops even though it is usually viral. The point being that it might help it from spreading. (Of course, I had some sort of alergic reaction to the drops and things got worse, but who knew that would happen.)
At least eBaby never got it.
I think helping C sleep on the plane is a good idea. You might want to try her with Bendryl ahead of time (at home), though, since often times medications that make adults drowsy have the reverse effect on babies. You wouldn’t want to accidentally have a hyperactive baby on the plane!
Have a great trip and Merry Christmas! Buy a new tube of cheap mascara for every day this week, and *do not* double-dip!!
I’ve been giving her Benadryl at bedtime for the past few nights to see if it would thin out the stuff in her nose and keep her from snoring. It barely helps at all, but at least I know that it does, in fact, make her sleepy.
Also: I haven’t worn make-up at all this week, so no need for disposable mascara. I probably will put some on tomorrow for the trip, but my eyes have pretty much cleared up now, so I’m not too worried about it.