"Appointments please..."

I must have uttered the words "appointments please" no less than half a dozen times in the last two weeks, and I now know the words to the on-hold music for our pediatrician's office by heart.

It all started last weekend when Reese started to have yellowish-green discharge from her eyes. As a former school teacher, my immediate reaction was, "Oh no--pink eye!" I got a little suspicious of my initial reaction, though, when the discharge wasn't accompanied by itching or redness. A sinus infection, perhaps? (The Righter family is notorious for our chronic sinus issues.) So...off we went to the pedi on Monday morning with both girls in tow. Turns out the issue was NOT with Reese's eyes at all--she had a terrible double ear infection. (Lovely to think about how the drainage from the infection was seeping out of her eyes!) A year ago I would have been wracked with guilt about missing the "signs"of an infection, but now I don't have time. Besides, she never complained of pain and she never ran a fever. The doctor prescribed us amoxicillin and we were off.

Everything was looking good until the next morning when Reese woke up with a rash. While I figured it was an allergic reaction to the antibiotics (I've had my share of allergic reactions--my allergy bands when I'm hospitalized can barely contain the names of all the drugs I have issues with), the pedi wanted to see it in person.....so, off we went again. Moving on to antibiotic #2 seemed to help matters for Reese, but then it was Paige's turn.

Paige's eating had taken a real turn for the worse starting last weekend. She wasn't eating well, was fussing at the breast and had developed a stuffy nose. By Thursday the feedings were going miserably and she was having yellowish green discharge from her nose. Fearing an ear infection for her as well, I spent Friday night at the after-hours clinic getting her seen. For now her ears are clear, and the doctor said it may take up to another week for her nose to clear up. He told us to load up on saline drops, buy a humidifier, and keep her upright when sleeping to promote drainage. We've be doing as advised and her nose seems better, but now she's coughing and the feeding issue is still in limbo.

I knew that as a stay-at-home mom I would deal with two sick kids at some point, and I also knew that Reese would bring home every germ in the world from her 8 hours of school and infect her little sister, I just didn't expect it all to happen so soon.