Cleared to Fly

After we went to the zoo with Auntie Amanda, we went to Ria's Bluebird for some lunch. (Or breakfast. I don't know, I had a sandwich and pancakes. I'm breastfeeding.) You weren't interested in sitting in the highchair and eating solids, which was weird because you were very into it the day before at Nuevo Laredo. Did you just like Mexican food better? What was going on?

I decided to abandon the solids idea and just let you sit in the highchair. You were still threatening a meltdown. So I held you in my lap so that you could still sit at the table with the grown-ups, something you've always enjoyed. The fussing still continued to escalate. I'm not sure what compelled me to do something so counter-intuitive, but I put you back in your carseat and rocked you for a second like I did when you went to restaurants as a little baby. You passed out immediately, and stayed out for over two hours.

Uh oh.

The next day, your teacher Ms. Sam called me at work to tell me that you were eating less and sleeping more than usual. You didn't have a fever, so we didn't worry too much. The next day, she called again with the same report, but added that you were tugging at your ears. The threat of an ear infection was something we needed to take care of urgently, as you were scheduled to take your first plane ride in just a couple of days! I took you to see Dr. Cooper, who sure enough diagnosed you with a bilateral ear infection. We got some amoxicillin and went on our way.

You were your usual self after just a couple of doses! You never got a fever, so it seemed like we had caught it before it got too bad. Unfortunately, though, I noticed some little smooth red spots all over your tummy, back, and chest when I gave you a bath that night. I talked to Mr. Jonathan (who is also a pediatrician), and he told me it was probably just a penicillin rash, something that happens sometimes when the cause of the ear infection is a virus, not bacteria. Still, it was a good idea to call Dr. Cooper just to rule out an allergy. Dr. Cooper's office told us to go ahead and go in to urgent care, which was great news, because you were already asleep and Mommy and Daddy were busy drinking margaritas with Mr. Stephen and Ms. Caroline.

I woke you up, and we visited the urgent care center in Kennesaw, which had just opened. It was a beautiful building, and they were playing Frozen in the waiting room, but otherwise they were pretty much useless. The doctor basically told us that she wasn't too sure what was going on, and that we should see Dr. Cooper again after discontinuing the medication for a few doses. I was really glad I had woken you up at 9PM and paid a copay for that life-changing advice. In the meantime, your rash had spread to your arms, legs, and face.

The good news was that you seemed to feel totally fine.

When we saw Dr. Cooper the next day (yep, three pediatrician appointments in three days), she confirmed Mr. Jonathan's theory and told us that your ears looked all better. She spent a lot of time talking with us and showing Mommy research articles and pictures of rashes in her dermatology book, which I really appreciated. We were so relieved to hear that you didn't have an allergy! We went home, and got packed up for your first plane ride.