Leaky ears

Last Wednesday Carter got pretty sick. He was boogery, lethargic and had a decent fever. All he wanted to do was cuddle and sleep. He was feeling better the next day, but was still a bit cruddy and even though he was even better by Friday, I thought he might have an ear infection since he was showing signs, like poking at his ear, fussiness and even a bit of drainage coming out.

So, Friday afternoon we went to see our pediatrician who took a look at his ears and said they looked great. Totally clear. With a sigh of relief, we left and continued with our weekend plans as usual. Bill was also leaving for a business trip on Monday morning, so it was nice to know that even though Carter had a cold, that was it. Nothing worse. I could deal with a baby and a cold by myself.

The weekend went great and Carter seemed fine. He did continue to have ear leakage, mostly happening when he woke up from naps or sleep. It wasn't too alarming and after consulting Dr. Google, these were clear signs that he did have an ear infection. The leakage was from a hole in his ear drum that relieved the pressure and would help Carter feel better. Things should clear up on their own.

But they didn't.

On Monday morning when we dropped Bill off at the airport, I got Carter out of his car seat to give his Dad a hug good-bye. His right ear had leaked all over his shoulder and his ear was crusty with yellow wax. It was a bit much. We drove home and I cleaned him up. Then he woke up form his afternoon nap and goop was literally pouring out of his ear and onto his shirt. So I called the advice nurse who told us to see the Doctor. In between the appointment and the phone call, I had been following Carter around with a tissue to dab the drainage from his ear so it wouldn't get everywhere. It was that bad.

We went in as the last appointment of the day because that's the only time they had for us. We saw one of the Physicians Assistants who used to see Logan when he was a baby during all of his allergy testing appointments and vaccination issues. I hadn't seen her in a few years since she pushed vaccinations so hard and didn't really listen to my concerns, and that's when we started seeing our pediatrician only.

Anyway, she came in surprised to see us and met Carter, who was all smiles. She took his temperature and he did have a slight fever again. She looked at his ear and couldn't see anything because it was full of crud. She cleared it out by digging in there with a knitting needle-type tool and pulled out gobs of yellow goo. His ear was red, swollen and she couldn't even see the ear drum. He had a pretty nasty ear infection.

Well. Just what I thought days prior, but now it was worse, not clearing up on it's own and he needed antibiotics.

So, Carter's first ear infection and medication. His ear is a little better today, not leaking nearly as much, but still crusty when he wakes up. We're supposed to go back in a few weeks to double check and make sure everything is healing well and probably check his hearing as well. I hope it's fine!

So far, it hasn't been too much to deal with on my own and I'm so glad it's not worse!