Ear Infection

Baby Rachael is battling her second ear infection. My fear is that she will develop an ear infection each time she gets a lingering cold. On Wednesday night I noticed she felt pretty warm and she wasn't her usual high energy self. She had a slight fever, but it did not respond to Tylenol. Throughout the night her fever got a bit higher, and we were off to our wonderful doctor Thursday morning. Rachael was so cooperative until Dr. Cathy tried to look in her left ear. Rachael screamed and squirmed, and the doctor diagnosed she has an ear infection in that ear.
Her last ear infection was in July and in her right ear. That one developed over the weekend, and her fever reached 103 while we waited until Monday morning to get her into the doctor. When this one started to rear its ugly head, I wanted to act fast. So we are on the amoxycilin train, and I hope that her tummy tolerates it more now that she is on more solid food. She developed such a diaper rash the first time, but we are already letting her little bottom air out as much as we can to avoid that. Nothing like taking the gamble with a naked crawling baby--- it's "craps" at a whole new level...

Mike and I really want to avoid giving Rachael too many antibiotics, but the general consensus is that ear infections should be treated aggressively. They could clear up on their own, but it isn't advisable to let them heal on their own. It would be painful and could cause damage to the ear, and I guess amoxycilin is a relatively benign antibiotic.

The last few days, she has wanted to be held so much. Rachael is not a snuggly baby, so we know she doesn't feel well when she just wants to crawl up onto our lap and suck her thumb. Grandma Nancy is coming today to visit Rachael this weekend, so I hope that our little girl feels better soon.