Our little munchkin entertaining herself (for almost 30 minutes) with her sunglasses! Too cute!
Sophia's ears. Sigh. Ever since this fall, around September or October, we've been battling Sophia's ears. It's been infection after infection. I think the worst part about them is that there really is no way to look at her and say, "Yep. She has an ear infection." She rarely gets a fever with them, so we have to rely on signs. And let me tell you, the signs of an ear infection make for a different child.
Our normally sweet little girl gets cranky. And who wouldn't? Ear infections hurt. She doesn't always tug at them or give us signals, and it almost always coincides with her teething. So we're left guessing if the screams are from teeth or ears. She won't nap at daycare. Which not only wrecks havoc on the daycare naptime routine for Sophia, but also the other little toddlers she keeps awake during that two hour quiet time. She wakes up inconsolable (multiple times) a night. (Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my sleep...but when she wakes up screaming, my heart breaks, and I want nothing more than to sit in her rocker and cuddle her back to sleep...wishing it were under different circumstances.)
So, Dr. Midha referred us to a Pediatric Ear, Nose & Throat specialist in Sacramento. We spoke with the Dr. about the frequency of her ear infections and the complications that come from them. And while he checked her ears, he said they look good, as in no scar tissue, but there was a little bit of fluid in the ear drum. Granted she had just finished her latest dose of antibiotic, and it is normal for the fluid to be there. So, he left it up to us. We left with the intention of waiting another month or so, as we are heading into Spring and warmer weather, to see what happens with her ears. These infections could be a product of the cold and wet weather we've had...or a product of her ears not being fully formed and not draining the fluids.
But 2 days later we were in Urgent Care. Saturday night was one of the worst nights yet. She was absolutely inconsolable. NOTHING helped calm our little girl down. She had a very hard time getting to bed, and we chalked it up to the weird schedule since the time change that morning. However, 2 hours after putting her down to bed and getting her up for some more playtime, and more dinner, and then bed again, she still would not lay down. (Red Flag #1) After more bedtime stories, and more cuddles she finally laid down for a snooze. That's right, a snooze. Because less than an hour later she was up again. I spent most of that night upright in her rocker, but I'm not complaining, because I got in more cuddles that night than I have in the past 6 months combined!
So, after talking to Dr. Midha this week, and thinking about the rise in fluid in those tiny little ears...we're going for the tubes. Thankfully, after a week of phone-tag with the ENT office, I was able to take his first opening, which falls during my Spring Break. The timing was just right.
