Two weeks ago, when Noah had had a stuffy nose and a cough and an occasional fever for 14 days straight, I took him to the doctor.
His pediatrician, whom I absolutely adore, looked him over, listened to his chest, checked in his ears -- the usual.
The verdict: "Well, his ears look fine, and his chest sounds OK, so I'm hopeful that he won't need an antibiotic to go over this."
I was a little grumpy because I followed the rules here: I waited the requisite seven to 10 days for the "it's only a virus" phase to pass. I even gave it a few extra days -- just in case -- and took him in only when he spiked a fever well over 100.
I understand how important it is not to overuse antibiotics. I'm smart enough to know that an antibiotic fights only bacteria, not viruses.
But dag-gone it, my baby is sick. Sometimes when he sneezes, green globs shoot out of his nose. When he tries to sleep, I can hear his chest rattling and he snores, which is adorable but not something that happens when he isn't stuffy.
To be fair, his doctor did write me a prescription for amoxicillin and told me I should get it filled the following week if there was no improvement.
Cut to last Tuesday: Baby still sick, still waking up with green crust on his nose that almost closes off his nostrils. So I got the antibiotic filled.
(I'll save you the story of how the pharmacist misspelled his last name, thereby making it impossible for anyone to find his name in the system -- because there's no way "Noah Guylli" in the system getting the same prescription I just dropped off for "Noah Gulli" could be the same person -- and thereby adding almost 40 minutes to my "quick trip during my lunch break.")
Anyway, it's been seven days -- thus making this Day 28 -- and he's still a little snot ball. Of course, I still find him irresistibly cute and will chomp on his wrinkly little neck regardless of how slimy it is.
But I would like him to be able to breathe now.
So I'm stuck in this dilemma. Do I call and take him back in yet? Do I let him finish the full course of antibiotics before I call?
Normally, I'd just grab the phone, call up and demand some answers (all right, I'm a little more polite than that, but there's no denying that I'm a forceful personality). But since I got the after-10-days-it's-definitely-a-bacterial-infection thing wrong, I'm doubting myself now.
Thoughts? Complaints? Free tissues to offer?
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