Baby's First Ear Infection

To say this week has been kind of hellish would be an understatement. I am completely drained, and yet I still have to manage through the next few days before I get a break.

I've been really, incredibly busy at work, and decided I needed a break, so I took off last Thursday and Friday. When I picked Gabbie up from daycare on Thursday afternoon she felt a little warm. She'd been acting a little off, the teachers told me. Friday morning came, and she was definitely sick. A cold I thought; it will get better soon.

It didn't get better soon. Sunday we achieved the grossest parenting trifecta ever: she kept sneezing out what we call snot rockets (huge gobs of snot - so gross!), had a poopsplosion that reached her neck, and coughed so hard at dinner that she threw up every hard fought bite of food we had managed to get her to eat. She really hadn't eaten much besides nursing since Wednesday, which was incredibly worrying for us, especially since she's consistently on the very low end of normal weight-wise.

She (and I both) got increasingly more miserable as the weekend wore on, and by Monday morning we were watching the clock waiting for the doctor's office to open so we could call and make an appointment. We got there, found out she'd probably lost half a pound from not eating, and had a nasty infection in both ears. Oh, and she's working on cutting her two front teeth on the top. Fun!

We got her on antibiotics immediately, and she's doing much, much better. Thank goodness! Going back to work today actually felt like a break, a treat. No one was using me as a human kleenex, head-butting me, or throwing fits because I dared to try to give her some food. Tonight she ate her dinner happily, and we've breathed a cautious sigh of relief. Here's hoping an ear infection doesn't crop up again any time soon!