Cuddles And Face Slaps

In a previous post I had mentioned that both Cael and I were healthy again. Well, I didn't know it then, but that is not exactly true. I brought Cael back to the doctor on Tuesday because I was pretty sure his ear infection didn't go away. While Skyping with my mom, Cael was being really fussy, and crying his pain cry. My mom asked me if his ear was bothering him, and I said that I didn't think so, because he's been done with his antibiotic for a few days. She told me to gently press on his ear; I did, and he screamed bloody murder. That was my answer. Apparently, the antibiotic didn't work, and his ear was still bothering him. The might also explain the frequent wakings at night.

It was too late on Monday to call his pediatrician, so I called first thing Tuesday morning, and got him in at 11. As it turned out, poor Cael had a double ear infection, with his right side (originally the ear not affected) being worse than the left. Cael was given a script for Omnicef, another antibiotic. Hopefully this one will do the trick. The pediatrician also advised us to have Cael sleep on an incline at night, so that his ears could drain. The hope is that it would cause him to wake up less during the night because of the pain. He suggested having him sleep in a swing, the car seat, or propping his mattress up on an incline with blankets or pillows. Now, having a baby sleep on an incline goes against the guidelines of sleeping infants, and preventing SIDS. Unfortunately, having two moms in my online mom group that have lost their children to SIDS, it made me very nervous. Luckily, even after propping an end of the mattress up with a pillow, the sensor pad still worked. I was worried about sleeping at night and naps without it on, but I was relieved that it worked.

Since the appointment was a "sick visit", Cael was weighed with his clothes on - including socks and shoes (not that those makes that big of a difference). He weighed 15 pounds 11 ounces, but the pediatrician, who did the weighing, said that was too heavy, and estimated him to be about 15 pounds after subtracting the weight of his clothes and diaper. He needed an accurate estimation for the dosage of his antibiotic.

There have been several mornings where I would leave Cael in the bed with me after his very early morning feeding. He'd fall asleep while nursing, as would I. We'd cuddle, and I love every moment of it. However, he lets me know when he's awake. He'll either chat away and wake me up, or continuously slap me in the face until I open my eyes and look at him. Sometimes he'll grab chunks of my face, trying to get some kind of response from me. And when I do finally open my eyes and acknowledge him, he gives me the biggest grin. It just melts my heart, and I love every moment of that bonding time. Even if he does scratch me with a sharp fingernail. :)