Let me back up. Eddie had to go out of town on business at 5am on Tuesday morning and was returning Wednesday afternoon/early evening. I was going to be home alone with the boys, which is totally fine, not a big deal, I can handle it (but it sure makes me appreciate having him home--!).
Tuesday night, Andy slept a 9 hour stretch! I was THRILLED! I couldn't believe he went that long! And once he woke up and ate, he was right back asleep again-- ahhhhh, it was awesome!
On Wednesday afternoon, around 12, Andy got a little fussy, so I figured he was just tired and I put him down early for his nap. Cal went soon there after... Andy woke up after about an hour and a half and ate and burped like normal, but then started the most pathetic cry ever. I thought maybe he was still tired so I tried rocking him.... he was reallllllly upset at this point. Tears were pouring down his sweet cheeks :(.
Thinking it was a dirty diaper bothering him, I laid him down on the changing table where he let out the loudest shriek I have ever heard a kid make. I picked him up, diaper-free, and held him and he was just so upset. He was crying like he was in pain...and it was a different kind of pain than his tummy pain that he had previously.
I carried him around for a while trying to get him calm and he would rotate whimpering, crying, and shrieking. It was breaking my heart.
After about an hour of him crying in pain, I called the advice nurse line at my pediatrician's office. When the nurse called back, she talked to me like I was a mother about to walk off of a cliff. This was our conversation:
Nurse: how long has he been crying?
Me: for about an hour and a half
Nurse: well, you know babies can't use words to communicate
Me: really? huh.
Nurse: so they have to really get their talking out through crying. It sounds like your baby is just frustrated right now and is trying to talk it all out.
Me: seriously?
Nurse: Yes, seriously-- babies sometimes cry for no reason.
----->I wanted to reach through the phone and smack her------
Me: yes, I know that, but he seems like he's in pain
Nurse: I bet he just needs to burp. Have you tried burping him?
Me: yep. He had a great burp.
Nurse: Well, I bet you've been eating something that upset his tummy then.
Me: noooo, don't think so...
Nurse: well, you know babies can't talk, so they have to express themselves through crying... I bet he's just had a stressful day and wants to let you know about it.
UGH!
After going around and around about how some babies just need to express themselves through crying, I hung up the phone. She made me feel like I was being an over-reactive mother.
Andy was still diaper-less, and I had a feeling there might be a movement sometime soon, so I laid him down to diaper him and all hell broke loose. He started shrieking over and over again and couldn't catch his breath in between shrieks.
I called the appointment line, but of course, there were no available appointments that afternoon. Soooo, I texted my pediatrician (so bad, I know) and asked if she could fit us in. I believe my exact words were: "Dr. K: Andy is in pain. Don't know why. Can you see us? Please? We love you." I do love my pediatrician....
She wrote back to come on in. Eddie pulled in the driveway right in the middle of this and bless his heart, he walked into quite a scene! I filled him in and he said it was obvious that Andy was in pain, but he thought that maybe it was just gas. I told him to call the nurse on the advice line and they could chat about gas and expressing themselves, but I was heading to the doctor. Eddie agreed it was smart to take him in.
Poor little guy whimpered all the way to the office and I carried him in in my arms and he was the most pathetic thing you've ever seen.
He weighed in at 14 pounds, 10 ounces and had a temperature of 100, which is no big deal at all.
When the doctor came in, she looked into his ears and he was none too thrilled about that one. He screamed and shrieked and cried. She asked how long he'd been like that and said, "he is in a great deal of pain right now..." I wanted to cry. She told me she had concern about the draining in one ear.
She had me hold his arms down so she could look in his ears again, and then she went to get another doctor to look at them too..... the other doctor came in and took a look and they started mumbling back and forth to each other and I could only pick up bits and pieces over Andy's crying. I heard them mention his soft spot on his head and I heard the word meningitis. I was beside myself. She had the nurse come in and give him some Tylenol and put some numbing drops in his left ear.
I picked him up and worked on calming him, and he finally just passed out in my arms. When the screaming had stopped, the nurse came in and told me that her other 2 rooms of patients were all so worried about his since his screaming sounded so sad. :(
The doctor came back in to talk to me and check on Andy. When she came in, he woke up and started cooing and laughing---!!!!! The doctor said she was so happy to see that and that she was realllly worried about him when we brought him in. Well, that about set me over the edge. I asked her about meningitis and she said, "he was in so much pain like a child with meningitis, but he is totally fine." Then I asked her about the soft spot, and she said they were just commenting on how the soft spot was pulsating so much during his screams, but that I shouldn't worry about it.
When all was said and done, Andy had an ear infection! His first one-- on his 12 week birthday :) Go figure! I apologized to the doctor for being an over-reactive mother and she looked me in the eye and said "you don't mess with mother's instinct. You knew your baby was hurting and you did the right thing by bringing him in." See? That's why I love my doctor!
Oh, and when I told her that Andy slept for 9 hours the night before, she said she thought that was because he wasn't feeling well. Ugh. haha....
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| sweet little nugget with his first ear infection... |
2 comments:
oh no! i'm so sorry!! i have been so behind on reading blogs...i sure hope andy is feeling better now. poor thing and good for you for trusting your instinct :)
Oh no! What a horrible experience! I wanted to reach through my computer screen and choke the nurse. I can't believe you held your cool with her! Did you want to scream that this isn't your first babyand that you're not an idiot? I did literally burst out laughing when you told your hubs to call the nurse to talk about gas and expressing themselves. ;-). I hope Andy's feeling better now!
Abby
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