First ear infection :(

5 months, 3 weeks

Well, my precious little man has his first ear infection. We actually caught it totally by accident. On Monday night he started to get this cough kind of out of nowhere. He woke up Tuesday  morning and sounded like a 90 year old smoker! I felt soooo bad for the little guy! It sounded terrible, but he didn't seem to mind other than the coughing. He didn't have a fever, or any trouble breathing or eating. I of course wanted to rush him to the doctor right away, but Nick talked me off the ledge for that day. He made the valid point that just like the other 'walk in' trips, there was probably nothing they could do and let's just watch it for a day.

As Tuesday went on, the cough continued and that night he sounded just AWFUL so I decided I was taking him to the doctor the next morning. I knew there probably wasn't much they could give him for it, but I wanted them to at least make sure it hadn't made it's way down into his lungs or chest.

So we get up Wednesday morning (early thanks to Brock still not quite being used to daylight savings time) and head to the doctor. It's days like that when I think my life could be on a reality TV show and people would just shake their heads and laugh. I went to the doctor on my own thinking we'd be in and out. We were the first ones there so I was hoping for a quick turn around. We get checked in and as soon as we sit down, I can smell Brock's dirty diaper. He was wearing this adorable long sleeve, long pant fleece one piece outfit and immediately I panic that maybe the contents didn't stay inside the diaper.

I head into the bathroom to change him and my fears are confirmed and then some. It's not only coming out the sides (which at first I thought was easily recoverable), but all the way up his back. So not only does he have it all over his outfit and back, but in order to get the outfit off of him, I'll have to pull the outfit over his head and just spread the love. This caused my normally chill, calm, never crying baby to go into a full blown meltdown - tears, screams and all. So, as I'm wrestling him, the diaper, the clothes, etc, I realize there is NOWHERE for me to throw the dirty stuff away! The trashcans all say 'Please no soiled diapers'. In a Pediatrician's office? REALLY?? Is it so much to ask to get one freakin' trashcan for poopy diapers people? After getting him stripped down and a new diaper on him, I freeze and think there is NO WAY I have an extra outfit for him in the diaper bag as I had just grabbed it on my way out the door. Somehow by the Grace of God, there was an outfit in the bag so the little munchkin wouldn't have to be naked until he got to daycare!!

Anyway, while he continues to scream and cry, a nurse gently knocks on the door to ask if it's Brock in here. When I manage to squeak out 'yes', she offers to come in and help me. She helps me carry his stuff and get him somewhat back together. Luckily, she needed to weigh him so I could put off the battle of getting him re-dressed for at least a few more minutes. We get him finally calmed down, and I'm carrying him, his blanket, his diaper bag, my purse and 2 bags of 'soiled' items (at this point I've decided to pitch the super cute outfit) around the whole office.

The doctor comes in and Brock is back to his sweet little self. Smiling while the doctor pokes and peeks at him. We go over his symptoms and he listens to his chest to tell me luckily, it's just a cold and it hasn't gone down in his chest or lungs. I think we're good to go until he looks in his ears. Left ear, looks great. He gets to the right ear and there is some wax build up preventing him from seeing in his ear all the way. He goes to the cabinet and pulls out this handy dandy ear wax tool (I totally want one) and starts going to town on Brock's ear. Well, this sends him into yet another meltdown. He's screaming as the Doctor goes in not once, not twice, not even three, but FOUR TIMES to try and remove the wax. After he finally gets it out, he says it looks like Brock has the start of an ear infection. I'm so grateful we found it before it gave him any trouble, but I just wasn't expecting it!

They give us a prescription that I was thankfully able to fill right in the lobby of their office (yet another challenge - imagine still holding the diaper bag, the purse, the blanket, the baby AND the 2 soiled items, while trying to press buttons on this big machine). After about 10 minutes of fumbling, we were finally in the car and on our way to daycare! I was so glad to get there and get him safely dropped off, but the whole 'working mom' thing hit me like a ton of bricks as the day went on. I felt so bad about leaving  him knowing he didn't feel well. I just wanted to be with him and snuggle him all day! That was the first time since being back at work that I really struggled to leave him (well, more than just normal missing him).

He seems to be on the mend today. He's been sleeping with his mattress propped up and the humidifier running in his room. His cough sounded a little better this morning and we'll be giving him the meds for a total of 10 days to hopefully kill the ear infection before it really bothers him.

The past week has been relatively uneventful. He started oatmeal on Saturday. At first he didn't seem to like it as much as the rice cereal. He eats it just fine, but he didn't seem as interested at first like he was with the cereal. The time change certainly threw him for a loop. He was waking up about an hour early (but what used to be his normal time) all week. I think he's finally in the groove.

He is sitting up pretty much on his own! He can't sit up yet, but if you put him in a sitting position, he can sit. He sits up in the bath, on his changing table, on the couch, etc. The main thing that makes him fall over is his new fascination with his feet! He loves them and he leans over to grab them all the time. This morning he woke up and was just playing with his feet in his crib, totally quiet. Seriously, how did we get so lucky???

His new favorite activity is to grab, EVERYTHING. He'll grab your hair, your face, your nose, your hand, whatever is close. He likes to reach out and grab too. He uses both of his hands to pick things up. He reaches a lot more for things. He also opens and closes his fingers when his hand is on a new surface like he's trying to figure out what it is by feeling it.

He absolutely LOVES his jumpy chair. He's gotten so active in it. He laughs, squeals and jumps as long as you'll let him. He especially likes when you stand by him and move up and down like you're jumping too. He thinks it's hilarious!

Over the weekend we went to Carters and bought him a bunch of new clothes! He's officially in 9 month clothes! He still has a few 6 month things he can wear, but they are a little snug. He's growing so fast I feel like we can't keep up!!

Next week we have his 6 month check up and then are headed to Wichita for an early Thanksgiving!