Say What!?

So lil guy has been walking around like a drunken sailor the past day or so. I cannot decide if it is the new shoes on his feet or an issue with his ear. Well thank you very much mom's intuition!!! It is an ear infection, not just in one ear but both. Poor little guy.

I saw him tugging on his ear a few days ago, but thought it was just him teething again and then came the crying when I would lay him on the bed to change his clothes or his diaper. I started using common sense and connecting the dots. The only thing that was odd was that he was still able to drink his bottles alright and eat just like before. The stumbling when he was walking was the final piece to the puzzle as was the teachers at his day care asking what is wrong with our lil guy... he just wasn't his happy go-lucky self.

The doc yesterday said that we did everything they would have had us do too if we had brought him in earlier. He had some congestion and a stuffy nose, so we had been giving him a cough medicine with a decongestant and running his humidifier while he slept. That was reassuring to us to say the least. She gave us some drops for his ears to ease the pain and some antibotics to clear up the infection.

He sure is a tough kid though... the only time he woke up screaming was last night and the minute we put the drops in, he eased himself right back to sleep. We caught it and took him to the doctor just in time. Who says moms intuition doesn't pay off. I thought this excerpt from WebMD was dead on - so I thought I would share it with other moms out there who might need to know what the symptoms look like.

Thank you WebMD...

Ear Infections - Symptoms

Symptoms of a middle ear infection(acute otitis media) often start 2 to 7 days after a cold or other upper respiratory infection. Symptoms of an ear infection may include:

• Ear pain (mild to severe). Babies often pull or tug at their ears when they have an earache.
• Fever.
• Drainage from the ear that is thick and yellow or bloody. If this occurs, the eardrum has probably burst (ruptured). The hole in the eardrum often heals by itself in a few weeks.
• Loss of appetite, vomiting, and grumpy behavior.
• Trouble sleeping.
• Trouble hearing.

Symptoms of fluid buildup may include:

• Popping, ringing, or a feeling of fullness or pressure in the ear. Children often have trouble describing this feeling. Children may rub their ears trying to relieve pressure.
• Trouble hearing. Children who have problems hearing may seem dreamy or inattentive, or they may appear grumpy or cranky.
• Balance problems and dizziness.

Some children don't have any symptoms with this condition.