Morgan Kate

Apparently I spoke too soon.

While I thought Morgan Kate was on the mend, there was actually a storm brewing.

Last night before bed she seemed fine, other than her awful, nasty, deep in her chest cough. Travis and I had both planned to return to work and MK was going to return to Roddey's and preschool. 

Fast forward to 1:00am. I awake to MK screaming. When I enter her room she is complaining about her cheek hurting. I try to wipe the tiredness from my face, grab my cell phone in order to use the flashlight app and begin to look around in her mouth and on her cheeks. I see what appears to be a small ulcer. I give her Motrin, crawl into her little pink bed and pull her close. For the next two hours she tosses and turns and cries out and screams in pain. At 3:00am I get a cold washcloth and press it really tight to her face. At this point her cheek is hurting, but also her left ear. The washcloth provides about three minutes of relief. We try sitting up. We try a warm washcloth. We move to the den and sit in the recliner and try rocking. NOTHING.IS.WORKING. She's a mess. Screaming and crying and just overall miserable. I am tired and so worried about her and wondering how I am going to get through the work day on two hours of sleep. At 4:00am Travis and I both take the flashlight and look around her mouth and her ears. We both see the ulcer and we both see a green tube sitting in her ear canal. The tube that is supposed to be deep in her ear preventing ear infections. At this point we aren't sure if something's wrong with her mouth, her ear or this tube. Or maybe it's none of the above and something completely different. All we know is that we are clueless and we've never seen our girl like this. We are frazzled and worried and overwhelmed.  At 4:45ish we call the triage nurse at our pediatrician's office. She offers some good advice, and after hearing MK scream and wail in the background she suggests that maybe going to the ER is not such a bad idea, besides it will be after 9:00am before we are seen at the doctor's office. 

At five we jump in the car and head to the ER at the Children's hospital. We are the only ones in the waiting room and seen promptly. Matter of fact, our entire ER experience lasted an hour. It was great and everyone was so kind. The ER doctor won't touch the tube and says that it could be a bad ear infection, but he can't really see because of where the tube is placed. He prescribes one high power dose of an antibiotic and tells us to call our ENT. At this point I'm frustrated, still worried, still tired and feel like the biggest loser in the world because I just brought my daughter to the ER with an ear infection. For real?!? Oh, and my child is still in agony and has had no relief or any sleep. Not a good combination. 

We drive home and wait for our pediatrician's office to open. We call them and they make a call to our ENT. I heart our pediatrician and all of the staff at the office. While we are waiting to hear back, we give MK the enormous dose of the antibiotic that the ER doctor prescribed and give minutes later she proceeds to throw up the entire dose of medication, along with everything else in her stomach. The ENT works us in (another huge blessing) and we make our way to their office a little before noon. In the meantime we just try to keep our girl as comfortable as possible. 

We were told to expect a wait at the ENT because they were working us in, but again, we were blessed and our entire trip there last 45 minutes. The ENT that saw us was able to remove the left tube and found a nasty ear infection and lots of fluid. She sent us home with a new antibiotic and MK's tube as a souvenir. We came home, gave MK more Motrin, a dose of the new antibiotic and she napped for over three hours. I may have napped as well. 

Both doctors, ER and ENT, said that the tube moving shouldn't cause any pain, but I just don't know if I agree. The minute they took the tube out I could see the relief on MK's face. Yes, she still complained and cried about her ear hurting, but nothing like before. 

Earlier today I was feeling like a moron for taking her to the ER, but as I've pondered it over today, I do the same thing all over again. I would do ANYTHING to provide my baby with relief. If it means staying up all night, then I'll do it. If it means a trip the the ER, then I'll do it. Whatever it takes, I'll do it. And the bottom line, I'd rather be safe than sorry. Period.

I'm afraid of jinxing myself, but I really do think that maybe, just maybe, our girl is really on the mend. Hoping and praying and hoping some more.