Desmond's fussiest, worst nights ever. The culprit? Ear infection

My mother is an awesome cook.  Specifically, she makes the most amazing rice and beans, fried plantains, and, in particular, soups.  She believes that any ailment, be it a headache, stomachache, flu, depression, anxiety, etc could be cured by eating some "chicken soupy."  She made us the most amazing chicken soup (we were all recovering from an awful sickness) that was made with cabbage.  We gave some to Desmond because 1, he gets so jealous when we eat our grown up food and he's eating mush out of a bag, and 2, the kid eats anything and everything (except parmesan potatoes and spinach).  I had just finished my first full day of my qualifying exam and was exhausted.  All I wanted to do was watch Oprah and Nikita (I know, I know...not very cool) and eat my mom's homemade cinnamony-sugary cream of wheat (my mama calls it Harina de Negrito).

So, Desmond started to get really fussy, so we tried to put him to bed at around 9.  He slept for about 2 hours and then woke up howling.  Usually, Des makes a little tiny yelp at first, groans a bit, and then starts fussing.  This time was different.  He would wake up yelling.  I ran into our bedroom terrified that something had happened.  I picked him up out of his crib.  As soon as I picked him up, he quieted down and lay his head on my shoulder.  "Weird," I thought.  I walked a few paces and, when his breathing became steady, I put him down again.  20 minutes later, he howled again.  and 20 minutes after that.  And 20 minutes after that.  By the 5th time, I convinced myself that something was wrong.  I immediately thought of how he would howl during the night as a newborn because he didn't quite yet know how to fart.  Ridiculous, huh?  Imagine now knowing how to fart!  I'm sure it was more complicated than that, but it's kind of funny...babies are really so helpless!

Anyhow, Billy was housesitting his parents' house that night so it was just me, my mother, and my little brother Gabriel (although he was of no help...the kid can sleep through a hurricane.  Seriously.  He's slept through at least 4 so far).  By 2 am, I put Desmond in the Ergo carrier and rocked back and forth while watching all of my saved Late Night with Jimmy Fallon episodes.  The minute I stopped rocking and sat down, he would start crying again.  At 6am, I handed him over to my mother and, exhausted, slept until noon.  My mother felt horribly and kicked herself for putting cabbage in the soup (cabbage is one of the main culprits of gas).

Back when Des was feeling like crap...He's got milk all over his face and some major boogers.  He's going to want to KILL me when he grows up and sees this picture.

Throughout the day, Desmond did really well.  The next night, he slept horribly again.  We decided to take him to see the pediatrician the next day to see whether what was bothering Desmond was gas or reflux.  The pediatrician poked Des in the stomach ("feels soft...hardly any gas"), listened to his little heartbeat ("sounds nice and strong"), and looked into his mouth ("aaaaahhhhh").  It wasn't until she looked into his right ear and said "hmmm" that I almost slapped my forehead and thought, "right...duh.  Ear infection."  I mean, classic sickness for kids and babies, right???  It turns out that he had signs of an ear infection that was either coming or going.  In BOTH ears.  Which makes sense.  Des had the remnants of our cold (although not as severe, thankfully.  Yay for breastmilk!) and was really stuffy (at one point, when he slept or nursed, he sounded like Pirate, our pug).

Poor, poor baby.  She sent us home with a prescription for antibiotics and told us that if he gets worse, ("and you'll know if it does") within 2 days, to go ahead and pick up the prescription, but not to give it to him if he seems to get better.  So we decided to wait.  We bought a new vicks warm humidifier and some baby vicks vaporub, which has lavender in it.  

Des seemed to be getting better, slowly.  He still disliked being completely flat (the fluid builds up in the ear canal and pushes against the inflamed eardrum when the baby is horizontal), so we stuffed a quilt underneath one end of his mattress so that it was elevated about 40 degrees.  We gave him some acetaminophen every 4-6 hours.  A few days later, he got worse.  The same symptoms - the waking up screaming, the general fussiness - came back.

Second time around...

We were just about to go to St. Louis and didn't want to go to a different city without the prescription, just in case.  We got the amoxicillin, which comes in this bottle and is a pink concoction that tastes like fruit mix.  We give him 4 mls 2 times a day with a syringe.  We started giving it to Des and within one day, we saw a major difference.  He's still on it, but almost done with the prescription.  I wish I wouldn't have been so busy, or I would've done something else to ease his pain and waited the infection out, like giving him warm olive oil drops in his ear or putting a warm compress against his ear.

But now?  Sleeping like a champ (a welterweight...not heavyweight yet) and happy as a goose.  Or a duck or mussel or whatever.  What?  English is my second language...back off.  :)

An infection-free Desmond!