I love my children more than anything else in the world, but it is so frustrating when my plans to get together with other grown-up people are spoiled by one of them getting sick! I was really, really looking forward to seeing my college friend, Kelli, tonight and meeting her adorable little guy for the first time, too. Also, since becoming a stay at home mom, I've found that I am more inclined to want to go to different events because I need the time out more than I did when I was teaching. But our family outing didn't happen because Logan has pink eye. He is actually acting much better than he was yesterday when he woke up from his nap, but I knew we still couldn't go to the barbecue (not even if it was just me and Mia, because I would only want to share love, not nasty germs).
It was a lousy end to a very busy, but fun, week. We made it home from our trip to Minnesota on Monday evening, and then jumped right into VBS on Tuesday morning. We were exhausted each day after that so we never went anywhere else, which is why I am assuming he picked it up from the church nursery. (I was working in the craft room while Mia was in the preschool group.) It seemed odd to me that he was perfectly fine yesterday morning, but then he only took a short nap after we got home, and he woke up positively screaming in an inconsolable way that he hasn't done in a very long time! That's when I noticed his runny nose and the green goop coming out of his left eye. Up until this point, we've been lucky enough to not have pink eye in our family, but I took one look and knew that our luck had run out.
It was after 1:00 in the afternoon, so I called the pediatrician right away and was able to get him in at 2:30, which is fortunate because if it had been any later I am sure we would have had to go to Urgent Care. Logan screamed while I was on the phone, while I got him ready, and while I strapped him into his car seat. He continued to scream while I went to wake Mia up (She doesn't typically nap anymore, but like I said, we were exhausted from the week), and then he screamed all the way to the doctor's office (about a half hour drive). He screamed so much he made himself throw up at least twice. We were all pretty miserable during that car trip.
The good news is that the diagnosis was quick. Pink eye, of course, plus a double ear infection! Our pediatrician recommended giving him a shot of antibiotics since he had been throwing up and she wanted to make sure he kept the first dose down. I wasn't thrilled about it, but I knew it was the best thing to do. After some ibuprofen and a bit more screaming he calmed down and finally slept. The nurse said he would be like a different child that evening, and she was right. I was worried about how he would be after waking up since the previous wake-up had led to about three hours of incessant screaming.
I am so thankful for antibiotics. Okay, to be honest, I am not enjoying having to give eye drops to a squirmy toddler every four hours (especially when the pharmacist told me that we have to wake him up to give him the drops during the night!), but it's worth it to not have green goop coming out of his eye (and of course, to not have the inconsolable screaming that went along with it!). Fortunately, the oral antibiotic for his ear infection is easier to give since they added flavoring at the pharmacy. And, Logan has become more accepting of getting the drops once he realized that he gets a popsicle or sucker afterward.
Things are looking up. I am cautiously optimistic that Brett and I will get to go to the U2 concert tomorrow night. We've had this on the calendar for months. Even though I am bummed about not getting to see a friend who lives far, far away, I have realized that: 1) I am a good mom for trusting my instincts and taking him to the doctor. 2) Plans get changed often; it comes with the job description of being a mom. 3) There is always something positive to be found in crumby situations if you know how to find them. As odd as it sounds, I am thankful for the green eye goop, because if it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have taken Logan to the doctor and it would have been a few more days before I would have found out about the ear infection! (And you just know that there would have been more misery involved before we arrived at that diagnosis.) I wouldn't trade this crazy life for one without my children because even though there would be less green goop and I could probably see friends whenever I felt like it, I wouldn't be as strong of a person as I am now. Having kids has made me realize that I can handle just about anything that life dishes out!
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