Poor Ben.

His big first brithday rolled around last week, and what was he given???

An ear infection!

I feel terrible because he probably had it for DAYS before it was diagnosed, but in nearly 7 years of parenting only one kid has had an ear infection once (Mack, when we were in Mexico of all places!), so I just never really knew what symptoms to look for. But, I suppose I should have guessed when he cried in front of his birthday cake (“its my party and I’ll cry if I want to…“):

I was happy to hear the doctor say she is reluctant to prescribe antibiotics for ear infections, in favor of a wait-and-see approach. However, Ben had been cranky and miserable and up-all-night-with-a-blood-curdling-scream, so I encouraged her to give us amoxicillin.  As far as I was concerned, the days leading up to the diagnosis were the “wait-and-see”!!

So, wee Ben is now being treated to a twice daily dose of shocking pink medicine (Hello Kitty Medicine, as Vivian calls it). He loves it and it might as well be dessert.

I have four kids and a million things to keep track of, and sometimes remembering if Ben is due for a dose is enough to make my brain implode. So, I use a Sharpie marker to keep track. When we brought the prescription home, I wrote 1-10 on the bottle (he needs to be treated for 10 days). After every dose, I put a little dot next to the day. A simple trick to make sure the little fella gets his medicine.

I am happy to report that after 12 hours on the medicine Ben was back to his cheerful, adorable, huggable self. While I normally take a holistic approach to my family’s health, I can’t help but feel grateful to live in a time and place where a minor (yet painful!) infection can be easily treated.