Trust your mom instinct

M is pretty much our ear infection queen. 4 ear infections in 4 months with 4 different medications to treat them. We have not had the tubes talk yet but we know with one more it will need to be discussed.

The day before going into the doctor was a normal day. M was happy, eating fine and playing just like she usually does. The next day, however, she woke up a bit fussy and with a runny nose. After about an hour of cuddling, which I did NOT AT ALL mind but was a little unusual with M, I called the doctor. At the time it felt so silly. I’m calling the doctor because my kid is cuddling with me? That sounds insane.

So I called and got her an appointment that day…in the middle of naptime. So now I feel crazy for calling because she could just have a cold AND I am interrupting my kids’ naptime to potentially go to the doctor for nothing. However, with the weekend approaching, and knowing it would be a naptime appointment or potentially an ER visit after hours, I kept the 2:30 appointment time.

All five of us got to the doctor’s office and waited for our doctor to come in. It was a doctor I hadn’t seen before but luckily I love all of the doctors I’ve encountered at our pediatric office. She did the usual checks: eyes, nose, lungs and then went for the ears. As soon as her tool hit the side of M’s ear, “Yep, that one’s infected” and she moved to the other ear. She took a few extra seconds to look in her second ear and announced that that one was also infected.

The thing I learned: Trust your mom instinct.

It’s not like I wanted her to have an ear infection since I knew it was probably pretty painful for her, but at the same time I felt validated as a mom. Like, as crazy as it sounded, I knew my kids and knew something was up. I’m not terrible at this after all!

*I should note that this is not how it is all the time! I have also taken the kids in numerous times when nothing has been wrong so I feel silly yet also a bit better to have some peace of mind. It is these times that I am thankful for good health insurance!*

So as a bonus, the second thing I learned: peace of mind is worth a trip to the doctor at any time of day.