You may have noticed that I have not been blogging about the pediatrician lately. Is it because I was tired of blogging about it? NO! it was because my girls have been relatively healthy! In part because of the nicer weather and in large part due to AK's nightly regimen of Claritin, things were on an upswing. Until yesterday.
Yesterday LP woke up barking like a seal. And while running errands I noticed that AK seemed pretty warm. Fortunately we were near a Harmon discount drug store and I ran in and grabbed some children's Motrin. She took it no problem and was in great spirits, so we continued on with the rest of our errands and grabbed some lunch at Bertucci's. Both girls ate well, laughed, and generally goofed around, you would never know anything was wrong.
Regardless, on the way home we figured we would drop in at the pediatrician to be safe and since fevers are so rare in our house. In truth the Hoos and I both knew the diagnosis. AK has an ear infection.
Last night before bed she got her antibiotic and a dose of Motrin. When I went to bed around 10, she still felt really hot. However, she was sleeping. Rather than wake her up to dose her up, we decided to let her try to sleep it off. At 12 she needed some comforting. At 2 she needed more Motrin. At 5 she needed comforting. At 5:30 the Hoos gave her Tylenol. At 5:35 I gave her comforting. And now, at 10, she is still sleeping. Poor baby.
I don't miss these freaking ear infections! We are going back to the ENT to do her recheck in a couple of weeks. Not that I am pushing tubes, but those three months without a doctor visit were awesome. I would like to make it 6 months next time!
(For the record, LP is just fine, they listened to her lungs and they sounded fine and she hadn't really barked since waking up. She barked again this am, so we are keeping an eye on it).
Showing posts with label ear infections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ear infections. Show all posts
Monday, April 12, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
No Secrets
As the Hoos and I watch AK develop and grow, we struggle to remember LP achieving the same milestones. Without the evidence of my blog, I think we would swear that LP was born talking. She is a sponge, using words I didn't realize she knew and sharing facts and information at opportune and inopportune times.
For example, yesterday, she had lengthy phone conversations (from the pot, natch) with both the Hoos and my parents. Fortunately, our household secrets were not part of the equation - for once.
"Leo asks me to sit next to him. And I say 'okay, Leo, but you can't hit me or push me or pinch me' and he says that he won't, but THEN HE DOES! Every morning Leo's mom says to him, 'Leo, be a good boy today.' But it doesn't work!"
For the record, AK also talks incessantly. We do not always understand her, but she definitely thinks she is saying something that I should understand, as she will repeat phrases until I figure out what she means. Part of the challenge is that we continue to try to compare LP's and AK's development. I know we shouldn't, especially with our awful memories, but it is the only hands-on kid knowledge that we have. With AK's history of ear infections, we are not sure if it is impacting her speech as her pronunciation is far from perfect - is it a development thing or a delay? (ACK! Too much thinking!) Who know?
Yesterday, we went to the ENT to discuss the possibility of getting tubes for AK. At this point we can continue to wait and see if she will need them and not worry about any permanent damage to her speech and hearing. A reasonable approach since we have had a decent amount of time since her last infection and her nightly Claritin regimen seems to be keeping infections at bay.
Alas, tubes or any other solution won't impact her volume control. It is just a toddler thing. A horrible, unpleasant toddler thing. No one likes hearing "MOMMMMYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!" screeched at the top of their kid's lungs. Even if she does do it to the tune of Tarzan's "Ahhhhhhhh-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-aaahhhhhhhhh" call. Hoping that will go away when I can understand her better...
For example, yesterday, she had lengthy phone conversations (from the pot, natch) with both the Hoos and my parents. Fortunately, our household secrets were not part of the equation - for once.
"Leo asks me to sit next to him. And I say 'okay, Leo, but you can't hit me or push me or pinch me' and he says that he won't, but THEN HE DOES! Every morning Leo's mom says to him, 'Leo, be a good boy today.' But it doesn't work!"
For the record, AK also talks incessantly. We do not always understand her, but she definitely thinks she is saying something that I should understand, as she will repeat phrases until I figure out what she means. Part of the challenge is that we continue to try to compare LP's and AK's development. I know we shouldn't, especially with our awful memories, but it is the only hands-on kid knowledge that we have. With AK's history of ear infections, we are not sure if it is impacting her speech as her pronunciation is far from perfect - is it a development thing or a delay? (ACK! Too much thinking!) Who know?
Yesterday, we went to the ENT to discuss the possibility of getting tubes for AK. At this point we can continue to wait and see if she will need them and not worry about any permanent damage to her speech and hearing. A reasonable approach since we have had a decent amount of time since her last infection and her nightly Claritin regimen seems to be keeping infections at bay.
Alas, tubes or any other solution won't impact her volume control. It is just a toddler thing. A horrible, unpleasant toddler thing. No one likes hearing "MOMMMMYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!" screeched at the top of their kid's lungs. Even if she does do it to the tune of Tarzan's "Ahhhhhhhh-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-aaahhhhhhhhh" call. Hoping that will go away when I can understand her better...
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Tap Tap. Can You Hear Me?
Monday I took AK for a hearing test. She has had monthly ear infections for the past year and the pediatrician does not want to recommend tubes unless it is impacting her speech or hearing. I can respect that. It is not like I want my baby to get anaesthesia or undergo surgery, but on the other hand, monthly antibiotic treatments are not really desirable either.
The good news is that most of the time when AK has an ear infection, it is hard to tell. She rarely gets fevers, and it rarely interrupts her sleep or affects her eating habits. Basically I just end up taking her to the doctor when she has a cold for more than a few days because that usually means the gunk has had enough time to back up into her ears.
According to the audiologist, AK's hearing seems to be fine. There were no major gaps and she responded to vowels, constants and different tones in a satisfactory manner, despite the fact that she had some fluid in her ears.
The result was not a surprise. Like most toddlers (or children of any age - including husbands) I know that AK has selective hearing. She ignores most things she doesn't agree with. She also has this incredibly awful shriek. Really really killer. Unfortunately this has nothing to do with her hearing and everything to do with her wanting attention. However, she also has quite a few words: light. up. cat. dog. Mommy. Daddy. DiDi [her big sis]. duck. teeth. BuhBee [the paci]. Tubbies. candy...(her sister taught her that last one).
Following the audiologist I took AK over to the pediatrician to discuss the results and double check her ears. I ended up learning a few things. Maybe I also have selective hearing, because I don't think it was the first time she said, but it was definitely the first time I heard, that only 50% of ear infections are bacterial. Meaning that antibiotics are not always necessary to treat ear infections. And maybe it isn't so bad to let them run their course.
I AM NOT GIVING MEDICAL ADVICE HERE. However, she did say that if AK isn't running a fever or extra cranky or waking up frequently, we don't necessarily need to put her on antibiotics for every ear infection. This ties in to my experiential approach to parenting. If I suspect an ear infection and AK doesn't have any symptoms, I can bring her to the doctor to check it out, but what they might do is tell us to come back in a few days to see if it is improving on its own BEFORE giving her antibiotics.
I am going to try this and see how it works. I am also taking AK in for her second hearing test in about six weeks so the audiologist can continue to monitor her hearing.
Many of my friends rave about tubes and the positive impact they have had on their children and chronic ear infections and behavior. I am a believer. And, if it is determined to be the right course of action I am all for it. BUT if AK can outgrow the ear infections without surgery, I would be a happy camper.
The good news is that most of the time when AK has an ear infection, it is hard to tell. She rarely gets fevers, and it rarely interrupts her sleep or affects her eating habits. Basically I just end up taking her to the doctor when she has a cold for more than a few days because that usually means the gunk has had enough time to back up into her ears.
According to the audiologist, AK's hearing seems to be fine. There were no major gaps and she responded to vowels, constants and different tones in a satisfactory manner, despite the fact that she had some fluid in her ears.
The result was not a surprise. Like most toddlers (or children of any age - including husbands) I know that AK has selective hearing. She ignores most things she doesn't agree with. She also has this incredibly awful shriek. Really really killer. Unfortunately this has nothing to do with her hearing and everything to do with her wanting attention. However, she also has quite a few words: light. up. cat. dog. Mommy. Daddy. DiDi [her big sis]. duck. teeth. BuhBee [the paci]. Tubbies. candy...(her sister taught her that last one).
Following the audiologist I took AK over to the pediatrician to discuss the results and double check her ears. I ended up learning a few things. Maybe I also have selective hearing, because I don't think it was the first time she said, but it was definitely the first time I heard, that only 50% of ear infections are bacterial. Meaning that antibiotics are not always necessary to treat ear infections. And maybe it isn't so bad to let them run their course.
I AM NOT GIVING MEDICAL ADVICE HERE. However, she did say that if AK isn't running a fever or extra cranky or waking up frequently, we don't necessarily need to put her on antibiotics for every ear infection. This ties in to my experiential approach to parenting. If I suspect an ear infection and AK doesn't have any symptoms, I can bring her to the doctor to check it out, but what they might do is tell us to come back in a few days to see if it is improving on its own BEFORE giving her antibiotics.
I am going to try this and see how it works. I am also taking AK in for her second hearing test in about six weeks so the audiologist can continue to monitor her hearing.
Many of my friends rave about tubes and the positive impact they have had on their children and chronic ear infections and behavior. I am a believer. And, if it is determined to be the right course of action I am all for it. BUT if AK can outgrow the ear infections without surgery, I would be a happy camper.
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