Helpless Mama

In the wee hours of Labor Day morning, Tyler woke up fussing a bit, so I just thought he was hungry, which was a bit unusual since he sleeps through the night now.  I picked him up and and walked him into his room so I could nurse him and he took to that okay.  He fell back to sleep so I put him back to bed, but immediately after I laid him down, he began to cry a cry I had not heard before.  Something was wrong but I didn't know what.  I picked him back up and soothed him back to sleep on my shoulder.  For the next four hours he slept soundly, while I was awake wondering what was wrong.  I then remembered my Mom telling me that when you can't lay a baby down to sleep peacefully, typically an ear infection has set in.  Mind you, he has had a cold off an on since she started daycare and the cold has resumed a few days earlier.  She was right.  Our sweet boy had an ear infection.  By 5 AM  he still had not run a fever, but we gave him a single dose of Tylenol anyways, which calmed his pain just enough that I was able to lay him down.  He slept from 6-7:30 AM, but awoke crying only after being asleep an hour and a half.  I had only given him Tylenol twice before after his shots since he ran a fever so we gave him the same dosage as when he was a newborn.  Thankfully, then nurse said we could increase the amount based on his weight so we gave him a second dose  around 9 AM. 

I called the doctor and a nurse from Kosair Children's Hospital returned my call and reassured me that he most likely had an ear infection.  Rich and I showered so we could take him to the immediate care center since our pediatrician's office was closed for the holiday.  That was an adventure in itself, but nonetheless, a doctor was able to look into his ears and determine his left ear was indeed infected.  

Amoxicillan and numbing ear drops worked their magic and our sweet boy slept the day away Monday afternoon.  He was back to his old sleeping habits from that night forward and has been a happy baby ever since.  

I am thankful the pain was only caused by an ear infection, but I sure hope we don't have to experience that again.  While I'm not confident this will be the only ear infection Tyler has, at least we have Tylenol and numbing ear drops to ease the pain until we can get him to the doctor.  

I would have given anything in the world to trade places with Tyler.  It broke my heart and I felt so helpless.