It was just two days ago I thought to myself “WOW. I can’t believe I never caught the cold Noah and Mark had. My immune system must be really strong. I bet it’s the vitamins I've been taking.” And of course yesterday I developed a sore throat and itchy ears, and today my throat is sorer and my ears itchier. Damn it. It better pass fast. We have some plans in the next couple of days and I don't want to be suffering through them.
Tuesday I took Noah to the pediatrician for his second flu shot. Since his runny nose was still hanging on after a week had passed I asked the nurse practitioner to check his lungs and ears just to be safe. She said they sounded and looked good and that a cold normally takes about 7-10 days so I shouldn’t worry. That was good to hear since I hadn’t brought him into the office when he got sick in the first place. I’m just not the doctor visiting sort. When I get sick I assume it’s just a little cold or bug and I’ll medicate the symptoms and get through. And I essentially feel the same about Noah, though for him I do call the ped’s office to validate my first inclination. I’m always baffled when I tell someone I’ve got a sore throat and they automatically say “You should go to the doctor.” I feel sheepish at the mere thought of dragging myself in for an appointment just so the doctor can tell me I’ve just got a cold. Like I’ve wasted their time and mine. And then there’s the whole question of antibiotics and whether they are overused or not. I had a former coworker who ran to the doctors every time he got a sniffle and was put on a round of antibiotics. What is your take on doctor visits and antibiotics?
Earlier this week we babysat Baby Francesca for a few hours. It was the first time that Noah REALLY tried to play with a child his own age. In fact he was showing off. He kept bringing Frannie toys and pointing at things to get her attention. He even tried to get her interested in a game of peekaboo. And when I told him not to touch the kitchen trashcan he reacted with a sound of indignation rather than the whine he usually uses. It was like he was giving me sass. I feel like his newfound interest in playing with another baby may be a developmental step, but I also think a couple of factors contributed to it. First, he was on his own turf and there were no strange adults here. And second, Francesca is an incredibly calm and quiet little girl who was mostly interested in crawling and putting things in her mouth. She wasn’t exactly an intimidating audience and it seemed quite natural for him to be a bit more dominant and spirited since she was so low key. I’m really interested to see how his future interactions with Francesca go, and particularly interested in seeing if he can now be more outgoing with our bubbly Baby Bella.
And for some odd reason today Noah decided that it would be really fun to pull out the bottom drawer in our plastic under desk organizer and sit in it. He's been climbing in and out of it all day. I'm sure the cats put him up to it.
7 comments:
Man it sounds like everyone is sick these days. I hope you feel better.
I don't go to the doctor unless I'm sure I have strep throat. Then it's only to get a z-pack because that's the only thing that will make me feel human again. Are they over-prescribed? Absolutely.
Noah sounds so cute and funny in his interactions with Francesca. I don't go to the doctor for much either- it has to hang on for a very long time or be very serious for me to go.
I end up at the doctor's office all of the time, usually for stupid things. When it comes to normal sickness, I wait until I have been miserable for a week and then I go in. If I have a cold and it doesn't go away in a week, then I have a sinus infection and I end up with antibiotics. We only take Dermot in if we think that he has an ear infection after his cold.
I love that Noah was trying to share his stuff with Francesca. I bet that that was really sweet to watch.
My verification is vivbud, just like Noah and Francesca.
I definitely think antibiotics are WAY over prescribed. That is why penicillian doesn't work very well any more, and because people don't take the entire 10 doses correctly. They take the pills for a week, feel better and don't take the rest.
However, sore throats always worry me, and Kiri used to get strep throat 5 or 6 times a year when she was little, which as I was telling Katy, can lead to some pretty bad health problems down the road if not treated.
I usually don't go to the doctor unless I am deathly ill, which I never am, so there you have it. I get really pissed when the doctors prescribe anitbiotics for things like colds, because they don't work on viruses, only bacteria, so it's worthless. Anyway, thats my rant.
Uhm, you should go to the doctor. Cuz I was just coughing and kinda feeling crappy and ended up with the great list of sick. Yeah, antibiotics are over prescribed. last year I had this same round of problems like 4 times in 3 months, I would get better, have a week or so then get bad again. My doc kept giving me a Z-pac, finally on my 4th visit I was like, this doesn't seem to be doing the trick...maybe we should try something else.
I definitely think you are on the right track with the doctor thing. Most things kids get are viral and there's not much you can do about it, but wait for the symptoms to disappear. Antibiotics are DEFINITELY overused! My pediatrician's office says that it can take up to 14 days for a cold/virus (the symptoms at least) to disappear. The only time I would worry is if they have been sick for a few days and the initial fever is gone and then suddenly reappears. Then I would suspect a possible ear/sinus/lung infection. Otherwise, I would let it run it's course. You know your child better than anyone, so use your gut instinct! I very rarely take my kids to the dr., unless I really suspect something is not right, but I have friends that call the pediatrician at the first sniffle. I think that is unnecessary, but I guess it's whatever the parent is comfortable with, so I try not to judge - we all have our own fears and phobias!
Hope you feel better soon!
My husband is proof of the overuse of antibiotics. His mom got them for every sniffle when he was young (he did have some bad bouts of pneumonia because he wasn't exposed to germs before kindergarten (but that's a whole nother story)) and when we first got married, it took a double dose of Zythromax (the strongest stuff) to even touch his fairly mild case of bronchitis. It's gotten better now that he treats the symptoms and only takes antibiotics when really needed.
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