Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Amoxil Breath

What started out as an innocent, first-time parent question turned into a trip to the pharmacy for some amoxicillin and some ear drops.

X-man has an ear infection...in both ears.

In the last week, I've noticed that he's started arching his back and pushing his head back while he's nursing. That really hurts while he's still latched on. I keep telling him that it's dine-in only...no take-away.

Anyway, while he's trying to fold himself in half backwards, he's also grunting and sometimes screaming. He's also been pretty fussy lately. I thought it was due to a little constipation (maybe I haven't been drinking enough water?) and maybe overstimulation due to TC's sister and niece being here this weekend.

So, thinking I'm smart and reading the signs of acid reflux, I called the pediatrician. The nurse said that it sounded just like reflux but wanted to check with the doctor. The doctor wanted to see him to make sure there was nothing wrong with his ears.

And now my baby has medication for an ear infection. I just wanted to cry when the doctor said that. Not that I think I've caused it, but I'm just so sorry that he's hurting and I don't know for how long.

The doctor said that he could still have reflux or possibly dismotility (some kind of digestive issue that can cause the same kinds of symptoms). However, he's going to treat the obvious first and then we'll go from there.

So, my poor baby had to endure a rectal temperature taking and having his head held down while the doc looked in his ears.

He's sleeping right now in daddy's arms. He's quite content. And we have to give him his nighttime dose of amoxicillin. Yummy...bubblegum.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome to Ear Infection #1! Freebird had his first ear infection, which we do not speak of aloud and instead refer to as "beer reflection," at 2 months of age.

The biggest sign for us is problems eating. He'll arch his back, screw up his little face and cry because the pressure hurts when he swallows, but he's still hungry, and that's just too much unpleasantness for him to deal with all at once.

Also, fyi, the antibiotics can very easily cause diarrhea so watch his poop for serious frequency and wateryness. Gross gross gross.

But you are a good mommy for noticing the signs! It was probably a very recent development because his inner ear is so small that it doesn't take much to clog it up.

Hope wee baby feels better soon.

Carissa said...

Antibiotics can also invite thrush into your life. A little acidopholis might not be a bad thing to give him.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/thrush/preventing-thrush.html

SarahB said...

Poor little guy! I hope the medicine clears it up quickly!

Anonymous said...

Pooor baby! Hope it's just the ears and the meds kick the infections butt!

(Ditto on the thrush)

Kristin, Rod, and Victoria said...

Yuck - no fun at all! You are a great mom to pay close enough to the cues little X-man is giving.

BTW - we're migrating off FF to a new forum:

http://ahopefuljourney.forumup.org

Kristin, Rod, and Victoria said...

Just wondering how your little X-man is doing. Hopefully he's on the mend!