Head Check

Thursday was Derek's 6 week check-up for his head.  I was fairly certain that his head size was okay and hadn't grown a lot since the last visit but what I was concerned about his mood, runny nose, cough, and slight ear tugging that had been going on since last weekend.  All of those symptoms (except the cough) could be attributed to teething so I didn't think much of it since he got new teeth on Monday (he's up to 5 now) but we were going in and I had to pay the copay regardless, I called to see if our appointment could also include a quick check of his ears, nose, throat, & chest.    The scheduler said the doctor didn't have any extra time to give us and referred me to a nurse.  After speaking with the nurse, she said the same thing but agreed to contact to the doctor to see if she could squeeze that in.  I found out our appointment was the first one of the day so I told both the nurse & scheduler that we would be there early, just in case she could see us.  I got a call back from the nurse that said our doctor said she would check Derek out during our appointment.  Yay!!!

As expected, his head still wasn't growing and actually measured exactly the same size as his 1 year check-up 6 weeks ago.  That's just fine and it means that our last appointment was right after a growth spurt and he is okay.

His doctor thanked me for calling ahead to schedule extra time to be checked out.  She said is lungs were clear (no need to worry about the cough), clear throat (no strep or blisters), left ear was red with puss (ear infection), and.....his right ear had the same = double ear infection!!  I didn't see that one coming at all.  All of the signs for an ear infection also match teething and he's been getting in teeth non-stop.  Ahhhh.... we probably should have taken him in earlier in the week.  (I'd have to say to the two biggest questions I routinely struggle with as a parent are "Should we give him medicine?" and "Should we bring him to the doctor?")

He's on augmentin for the next 10 days and then we'll be back in 2 weeks to recheck his ears and cough.  Thankfully, augmentin should clear up the ears and also take care of anything with the cough at the same time.