They're going to cut my baby!

The night before last, McKenzie was up all night screaming. Mom diagnosis: double ear infections. Why these things never show symptoms until after the doctors office is closed, I'll never know! I think the nasty little germs have a stopwatch. They all gather around and chant "Insta-care closes in: 3... 2... 1... and ATTACK!"

I felt so bad for my poor little girl. She wiggled and writhed in pain. We gave her pain reliever, decongestants, put cotton in her ears, got out the heating pad. I tried everything I could remember doing as a child, and couldn't give her any relief. She would climb up on my lap and beg me to make it better, but when the relief never came, she'd run to her dad and do the same thing. Such a frustrating feeling when you can't help your own child.

I thought I had heard something about putting warm oil in an ear, but wasn't quite sure, so I turned to the handy internet. (What would I do without it?) I found three home remedies. Number one: put urine in her ear. Call me crazy, but I wasn't about to try it. A) sounds messy B)GROSS! C) infection + urine does not sound like a good combination. And I think that something that comes out of a body, probably came out for a reason and shouldn't go back in. Scratched that off the list.

Number two was warm olive oil. Again, it sounded a little messy, but I would have tried it, had it not been for option number three: hydrogen peroxide. I dipped two q-tips in the peroxide and put them in her ears. She didn't like it much, but after 30 seconds, she pulled them out and told us it didn't hurt anymore. She climbed in bed and didn't make a peep the rest of the night. I am totally adding that to my mommy book of tricks!

In the morning I took her to the doctors office. Just as I suspected, two ear infections. Pretty bad ones, in fact. Somehow, him saying that made me feel guilty, but I keep reminding myself that there were absolutely NO symptoms before she went to bed. Whatever I need to do to cope, right?

The doctor also checked out her throat. She normally has HUGE tonsils, but I had been noticing them getting bigger lately. I kept checking her for fever, sore throat, anything that might raise a flag, but nothing did. The doctor told me that they were getting too big, and he wanted them out. I asked if there was any infection or problem with them, but there's not. Just big ole tonsils - tonsillar hypertrophy. Something my mother in law tells me is a Dew Family trait. (THANKS, DEW FAMILY!)

The doctor worried that should she get an infection, the tonsils will swell to the point of completely blocking her airway. EEK! So, we've scheduled appointments with our first ENT. Tonsils should be yanked the first part of May. I still have mine, so I'm a little unsure what to expect. So, tell me, how bad will it be?