When it rains

What a rough week.

Ian started coughing late last week, but the ped's office was full so he got a Monday appt. By Saturday, both kids were congested & coughing, and Ian was clearly not feeling well. Neither one was sleeping well, either. Monday morning we find out Ian has a sinus infection & get antibiotics, but the ped's office was too busy to look at Rinnah (even though she already had an appt to get a shot). Ian started to improve on the meds, but Rinnah got worse. Wednesday I call for her and they tell me they're still too busy and short staffed. This time I insisted, and got an appointment where we found out she has a raging ear infection. Poor girl, the dr stuck the otoscope in her ear and she SCREAMED at the top of her lungs for literally the next 30 minutes. So we got her some antibiotics and hoped she'd get better too.

Then today she woke up with hives. Ugh. So we call the ped's office who is still really busy and makes me feel like I'm being a total nuisance, but agree that she should probably be seen. I take her in, the dr spends less than 3 minutes in the room, tells me that this isn't a serious reaction and some kids just get rashes on antibiotics, but I should call if it happens again. He tells me to keep her on the same meds. Okay. I took her home, gave her another dose, and put her down for a nap. She woke up with hives again. I called back (had to go through the answering service, since it was 3:30pm and they had already stopped answering the phone) and after an hour and a half, got a call back from a nurse who basically told me that this is just going to happen for at least a few days and it really isn't a big deal, but if I'm "freaked out" by it they could call in a different antibiotic. But it really isn't necessary and I'm being ridiculous for considering it. Just give her benadryl.

Jeremy and I decided that hives are uncomfortable, and even if they aren't a life-threatening reaction they certainly aren't helping her sleep. Plus we didn't feel confident that if things got worse, we'd be able to get a response from our ped's office over the weekend. So we asked for a new medication for her which they grudgingly called in.

It's the only ped office in town, and the next closest would be 45 minutes away. I know my dad liked this dr, and as a person I think he's probably great and that's why my dad liked him-he's involved with his church, he's good with his family, he regularly goes on medical missions trips, etc. But this office always makes me feel like I'm being a huge inconvenience for them every time I need to bring a kid in, and like I'm completely overreacting every time I have a concern. And they have this same-day scheduling nonsense where you can't make appointments ahead of time; it's like a phone free-for-all at 8am. Sometimes it takes over 30 minutes to get through. And I am always rushed in the room and never get to ask all my questions before the dr is stepping out the door.

I hope we can find a better office once we move. And I hope our kids sleep tonight-Rinnah has been up most of the night, every night this week, and any time she slept for more than an hour Ian was up during that time. Jeremy and I are really tired. I'm just glad he helps-I would not even be walking straight if I were doing this alone.