AAAAHHHH - OTITIS MEDIA ATTACKS - BILATTERALLY!!!!!

We have our first bonafide illness - everything that has come before it in the past 18 months (including the nebulizer treatments) was just practice.

Michael started getting sick on Thursday, and I wasn't too happy because this time it went straight for his chest. The runny nose came, that annoying lowgrade fever, then the diarrhea - because we have to have parity, a mess at both ends. Last night he woke up at 1 and was running a 103 temp, then the screaming began. Every time we put him in the crib or even made a motion towards the crib he would start screaming. He's definitely not a cosleeping kind of kid, so that was out. John and I split things up pretty evenly, so both of us managed to get an hour or two of sleep each.

Of course I was supposed to make decorations for a luncheon for my mothers' group today. I sent out an email at 2am saying I was having problems and to see if anyone could help me out. I got through to our peds office at 8:30am and was given an 11am appointment - just enough time for me to trek into town and set up the centerpieces that I made last night. I really have to stop doing this to myself - I had *no* business chasing a bus at 9:30 this morning, I should have been napping with my sick child. At least I didn't try to get the backdrop made last night or walk to the 24 hour drugstore to buy a glue gun - the Jenn of two years ago would have done that.

We took the boy to the doctors (a half-an-hour late thanks to my misplaced devotions) and was told that he had a nasty double ear infection. They gave him motrin in the office, thus ending my reluctance to use it because of that weird ultra-rare allergic reaction. They sent us home with scrips for amoxicillan (now available in a miriad of disgusting flavors as opposed to just "pink" which was the only option when I was a child), ear drops (another joyous thing to administer), and motrin which the pharmacy actually filled to my suprise - of course after I bought some on the way home, John didn't know not to give them the RX. It was a good visit all around, and while the doctor talked about the vaccines he hasn't gotten yet, it was a *very* token mention because there is no way I am going to shoot my very sick and miserable child up with something that's going to make him feel bad, I just got the, "well call when he's better so he can get the shot."

Michael has been sleeping pretty much ever since we got home - and in the most pathetic and heart wrenching ways possible. At one point he was standing up and leaning the top-half of his body on the couch, sound asleep. As tough as my own sleep deprivation is at this point, hearing that plaintive half cry/half scream when he wakes just rips your heart to shreds and spurs you into immediate action.

Sorry this is so incoherent and for the many spelling mistakes- it's been a long day.