Christmas Cooties

Our little Anna has been hacking and coughing and dribbling all sorts of offensive goop from her nose for almost two weeks now. We, being the seasoned, veteran, non-alarmist parents that we are, assumed virus and assured ourselves and Anna that it would go away soon and a trip to the ped would be pointless and end only in a diagnosis of an untreatable virus, instructions to keep a humidifier in her room and keep her fluids up, which we were doing anyway, and the obligatory co-pay.

NAY.

Poor baby, she has a severe double ear infection. Do any of you other parents have this problem? I SWEAR...every time I assume infection and take them in it is only a virus and there is nothing to be done. If I assume virus and decide that it will run its course, we always end up with bacterial infection and antibiotics. What's a mom to do?

Incidentally, if you are instructed to give your young child the now forbidden infant strength decongestants and cough suppressants, be prepared to pay for them. They have been pulled from OTC shelves, are now prescrip only and as of this post there is not a generic brand available. Ok, it only cost our prescrip co-pay for a brand name drug, but some of us are a tad on the thrifty side and don't appreciate paying $30 for something that we used to be able to buy OTC for $10 or less. I find this highly irritating considering that we fully understand how to give our child the correct dose of a drug, know to look for possible drug overlaps, understand that in the world of cough medicine more is NOT necessarily better, etc. Perhaps we might have simply moved these OTC drugs behind the pharmacy counter so that they would not be sold without directions on proper use from a pharmacist? Eh? Anyone? Maybe? Ya think? Whatever.

Where was I?

Ah yes, Anna. The point is, she is really sick, poor baby. Anna has been a very healthy girl to this point. This (these) is (are) her very first ear infection(s) and only her second round of antibiotics. Not bad for 20 months old eh?

In case you are curious, I attribute Anna's robust immune system directly to the fact that she has been nursing since birth. Yes I realize that this is not a terribly popular topic and I am very much aware that there are people near and dear to my heart who think we should have quit nursing ages ago. And you know, that is ok with me. As long as you respect my choices and my space, you are more than welcome to disagree with me. Just don't expect me to change what I am doing. Ok? Good, I am glad we got that out in the open.

In case you need something else to focus on, chew on the fact that I consider infant formula companies to have almost the same level of responsibility as the tobacco industry for ruining America's health and contributing to the fundamental breakdown of the American family. Yup. Through years of research and personal experience I have this path of destruction worked out in detail. Interesting isn't it?

Yes I realize that there are legitimate exceptions to every sweeping generalization, you don't need to point those out. I am not sitting on a high horse condemning every mom who ever put a bottle in her child's mouth. No really, I would never do that. Both of my boys were bottle fed through part of their infancy. That's where the personal experience part comes in.

What's that you say? You did not come here to read my lecture on the wonders of breast feeding? Oh my, how silly and presumptuous of me. Is my face red? It's just that I get so fired up about certain topics and...My apologies. You are a kind, considerate and patient reader.

Where were we?

I have NO idea.

Here is a Christmas slide show to make up for the lecture.

Love to all!