Riley's 1st Ear Infection! Oh my!

Well...the flight went well except for the fact that Riley got his 1st ear infection!! The dr's not positive it was related, but she said more than likely the pressure on the plane pulled some of the mucus from his swollen teething gums back into his Eustacia tube where once it became stationary there bread bacteria. Of course, it hit him Monday night (before we returned to work Tues). The 1st night, he woke up at 3:07 (yes, I remember the exact time!) and I had to pretty much hold him and rock him until almost 6am before he went back to bed. It didn't dawn on me at the time, but when I would hold him (not lying flat), he'd be fine then as soon as I'd try to lay him back in his bed (flat) he'd start crying. At this point, I just contributed it to teething. Then Tuesday night he barely ate his dinner, and he woke up again from 1-3am. I contributed it to teething again! I never took his temp, but he didn't feel hot or anything.

So Wednesday, I had IBM coming on site to do a review of my AA.com migration project - sort of a big deal! I make it to work on time despite my lack of sleep the last 2 nights, then at noon Emily calls me to say Riley was burning up when he got up from his morning nap so she took his temp and it was 100.9. We both talk it through and decide it's probably his teeth, but she's going to see if he'll eat his lunch at all then check it again. She calls me back at 1pm to say now it's 102.5. We decide she'll run to Wal-Mart and get some Motrin since of course I forgot to pack it in Riley's bag today. (Oh yeah, it's summer so the arrangement during summer is that Emily keeps Riley at her house because it's easier for her to entertain her 2 boys there than at my house.)

Flashback to me - Here I sit with IBM on site since 9am....these are the days when it's not fun to be a working mother, but I gotta tell you. I love my job, and I take it very serious, but my son comes 1st! I called Dr. Jim, and they said try to get Riley here before 2. I called Emily back. She had literally just put Riley in the shopping cart at Wal-Mart, but she grabbed him and turned around to leave and meet me at the pediatrician. Luckily, I work with a GREAT team of people - that are really strong and have already covered for me while I was on maternity leave - so it wasn't that difficult to leave work. I knew they would keep things going with the IBM review. And when I say they - I should really say Bobby Lewis. He's AMAZING! He's younger than me, but I wanna be like him when I grow up! He's totally got it together!! I don't think he ever has anything left on his To Do list when he leaves at the end of the day, so I admire that because mine always seems to get longer! And he definitely doesn't suffer from the ADD that I struggle with! ;)

See..prime example of my ADD right there! Back to making the long story longer...Riley had a VERY acute ear infection. Literally, the dr said the redness in his one ear was hidden behind a little bitty piece of wax, but when she blew in that ear he went ballistic! And I have to say if something that small made him wake up and night and cry non-stop! OMG! I'd HATE to know what a full blown ear infection would do!

For a second, I felt bad that I was thinking it was his teeth! And a little bad that I may have caused it by taking him on his 1st flight, but this is a learning experience for us 1st time parents! Now I know the signs of an ear infection a little better! And I feel lucky that he was almost 10 months old before he got his 1st one! I know that wouldn't be the case if he were in day care! Once again, thank God for Ms. Emily! Plus, she helped me know that I should call the dr by checking his temp, etc. I hadn't even done that, but he definitely hadn't been that hot when he was up at night either. The Dr said I probably would have been calling her emergency line the 3rd night, if we hadn't come in that day.

Speaking of the 3rd night, it was GiGi to the rescue once again! I had been up the last 2 nights - Kelly's out of practice and he just couldn't do it! And to be honest, I wasn't sure I was going to make it the 3rd night in a row! GiGi showed up at 11:30 and took over! OMG! I was so thankful! Riley didn't go to sleep until after 1am. I thought I was just going to "close my eyes for a minute" and I woke up the next morning! I told Kelly - I guarantee you my Mom is asleep on the floor in Riley's room...and sure enough - there she was! Obviously, I didn't want her to do that on her day off!! But I was so thankful! She stayed to watch Riley the rest of the week for us, then she had to go work her 2 doubles Saturday and Sunday! She's a machine! I can't get by on that little sleep, and I don't have to work 16 hour shifts on my feet as a nurse! I have no idea how she does it!

She also made us a good ol' fashioned southern home cooked meal of chicken fried steak, green beans (the kind that have been simmered for hours with bacon), macaroni & cheese and gravy! YUMMY!! The only thing we were missing was the sweet tea because I don't have any sugar of course! ha! Kelly said the chicken fried steak was better than most restaurants he's had, and that was her "improvising" with my meager kitchen utensils and supplies!