gotta go with your gut

one thing i've learned over the past 7 years of being a mom is that your gut plays a BIG role in knowing what to do with your children. especially when it comes to sickness. call it mother's intuition if you will, you just KNOW when something is not right.

she looks happy, right? playing, laughing, content, curious, all day long...

so what's the problem you might ask?



she has an ear infection. a first for her...we've been blessed!

ear infections are the funniest things. so unpredictable and different for EVERY child it seems. when Harrison has had an ear infection he runs a high fever and is completely out of commission. Jackson may run a low grade fever but usually no fever at all. he'll be a little more prone to take a nap or may want to sit around more...that's usually the best indicator that something is wrong. he's not a sitter.

they all seem to have a fairly high tolerance of pain. they never tug at or complain about their ears. it's never been like the "books" say it will be. is anything ever like the "books" say it will be??? :)


Addison may be a lot like Jackson. she's run a low grade fever off and on for 4 days, has a runny nose and some coughing. normal cold stuff but nothing big and nothing i've worried too much about.

here's where the GUT plays a big part. even though she was as friendly as EVER while we ran our errands yesterday smiling and talking to every person in sight, didn't even cry when i dropped her off at nursery last night before choir, played ball with the ladies in the nursery and crawled around all over the place, slept through the night and to any bystander would seem just fine...except for the dealing with a common cold part......

something just didn't seem quite right. and the low grade fever had gone on for too many days in my opinion. so we made our appointment this morning and low and behold she has an ear infection in her right ear. we got the drugs and i'm confident she'll be 100% in no time.

what holds us mom's back from going with our gut? i think it's the fear and frustration of getting everyone ready and over to the Dr.'s office only to hear...AGAIN..."no, mom, it's JUST a virus." i've heard that a few times and it is always annoying to go all the way over there just to hear that it's a virus and they can do NOTHING to help your little one. however, i've also been on the other end and NOT gone because i didn't want to waste my co-pay and hear the whole virus talk, blah, blah, blah...only to end up at the Dr. a few days later to hear..."OH MY WORD, look at this poor little thing, they have _____________________ (something that's a big deal...like strep throat that Harrison had this year and wasn't even complaining of a sore throat)! i can't believe you haven't been in here sooner!"

wow, that'll really boost your confidence concerning your mothering skills. way to make me feel like a total loser mom!

i've learned to go with my GUT. when i do, i usually get it right. sometimes it's a virus but i'm OK with that. soemtimes you just need the peace of mind to KNOW everything is OK. and that's what insurance is for right? peace of mind!


OH, OH, OH, i almost forgot! because we HAD to go to the Dr. we got to see how much little miss Addison weighs! she's grown quite a bit since her 9 month appointment.

9 month - 14.5
11 month - 16.3 WOO HOO!!!