Sick or Something Like It...SOLVED!

The mystery of Jack's fussy behavior has been solved. The culprit...an ear infection! It was confirmed today at East Cobb Pediatrics at 3:30 pm. Jack's unusually fussy behavior started on Tuesday of this week and has increased as the days have passed. Looking ahead to the possibility of a very long weekend, and knowing the Pediatrician's office would be closed, I decided to call and explain Jack's behavior. They suggested we come in and that is when we received the news. We were told the possible symptoms of an ear infection are as follows:

runny nose/head congestion...check, we had that

fever...no

tugging of the ear...only when sleeping in his crib at night and I only know that because I starred at the video monitor trying to solve the mystery for 3 nights in a row

crying when laying down...he cried all the time

difficulty taking a bottle...yeah, right!

So, were the signs all there? Kind of, kind of not! So, here I am again wondering if I played the "Mommy guessing game" and won it or if it beat me. I had my suspicions of an ear infection, but I wasn't quite sure. I was so unsure that when we arrived at the doctor's office I almost turned around and left. As soon as Jack saw all of those cute nurses oohing and awing over him he got an instant smile on his face which eventually turned into a flirty giggle. I told the receptionist, "he must be fine, we can wait until his 6 month well visit next week". She encouraged me to stay and said the doctor can see you in just a minute. And, like she said, in just a minute Jack was called back and the doctor was there in a matter of seconds. Again, Jack smiled and batted his big blue eyes making me look like a fool. She checked his chest and breathing...all fine. She checked his right ear...all fine. And just when I thought she was going to write "Paranoid Mom" on Jack's medical chart, she checked the left ear (the ear I saw him tugging on in the video monitor). His handsome grin turned into an immediate frown and his skin turned beet red. A lot of crying followed along with the diagnosis. I was reassured by the doctor that Jack would be feeling much better in 2-3 days with an antibiotic, Tylenol, saline nose spray and some TLC. We left the doctor's office and had the prescription filled immediately... at Publix... for free! Jack fell asleep on the ride home and woke up in his recent fussy mood. I did get one semi-happy face out of him when I gave him his medicine in a syringe. For a moment he thought he was getting a second dinner and, you know, food is always the way to Jack's heart!