Ear Infection

It's been a while since our last post. God, it feels like years, actually. Alden is recovering from his first ear infection. Kerstin and I are also recovering from this week-long nightmare. It started innocently enough, when Alden barfed up his sweet potato at dinner last Wednesday. He has a shockingly low tolerance for chunks in his food, and I wrongly assumed that I hadn't pureed his meal sufficiently. A few hours later, he really let 'er rip as I was nursing him down in our bed. He soaked the sheets, the pillows, my shirt, his PJs and then dry heaved a few more times for good measure. I had to carry the sodden child into the kitchen to enlist Kerstin's help with the clean up. He had just brought Scott home and was showing him the house. Scott is also a new parent, with a daughter about 4 months older than Alden. He convinced us that we were dealing with a stomach virus of some sort and that it would all blow over in about 24 hours. It didn't. Alden started to cook that night, his fever going as high as 104 F. We went through a exorbitant amount of Tylenol just to keep his temperature down to a relatively cool 101. Keeping milk down was also a problem and we worried about dehydration. Poor little guy was just so lethargic. He slept in 6 or 7 hour stretches, which is way more than he normally does. On Friday, he slept from 3 to 10 am! He has never in his life slept that late. I actually woke up on my own and initially felt amazing, then supremely guilty. (Don't worry, Alden had his revenge by the next night). By day two, it was clear that the fever and vomiting weren't going away, so I took a shortened work day and then it was off the the Pediatrician for us in the afternoon. After pulling out what must have been 45 pounds of ear wax from a very squirmy and unhappy baby (DAMN, that kid has some seriously hyperactive inner ear sweat glands!) she diagnosed the infection in his right ear. I confess, I was a little crestfallen. Isn't all this exclusive breastfeeding supposed to stave off ear infections? I guess it was bound to happen eventually, especially with daycare and all, but still....
After discovering that pain killers are his friend, Alden takes a shine to sucking on the Tylenol dropper.

We got a bottle of Amoxicillin and more Tylenol on the way home and began the medicating in earnest. Tylenol every 4 hours to keep his fever in check, then antibiotics twice a day (or more if he couldn't keep it down). That night, he slept fitfully, to put it mildly. I think I was up every 45 minutes. We went through a record 6 pairs of pajamas before the night was over. Good fun.

On Saturday, he was really fussy and tired, but still wouldn't sleep. And he started refusing his antibiotics, so we had to use a little more creativity (i.e. putting medicine in milk, in mashed banana, and when those failed, distracting him with a toy while the other parent jammed the syringe in his mouth.) His fever finally broke Saturday night and by Monday he was mostly back to himself, minus the sleeping at night part. He is still a little bit off, but I suspect his ear is still hurting him a little bit. He naps for nice long stretches during the day, but at night won't stay down for more than a few hours at a time.

I've had requests for pictures of Alden's teeth - no small feat since he doesn't like to open his mouth unless it's to stick out his tongue. This is the best picture I have where the incisors are actually visible.

Much happier now that the worst is over....