So what hurts?

Last week, we were camping at Cran-Hill Ranch all week. The Tuesday before we left (5 full days earlier), Nolan started having some stomach issues. To be blunt, he had very loose stools. He was acting perfectly fine, he was eating fine, but he was having 1-4 loose stools a day. I thought perhaps he was teething, so I kept feeling his gums put his amber teething necklace back on him. Things did not improve when we left to go camping. In desperation, I smashed up 1/2 an Immodium before bedtime each night and gave it to him in applesauce. That reduced the messy diapers to one a day.

On Friday morning (day 6 of our camping trip), Nolan started running a fever. He was clingy, whiny, and unhappy. I kept asking him what was wrong and what hurt, and he just didn't know. He perked up enough to go to the beach with Uncle John and Uncle Nate in the afternoon, but crashed again after dinner. You know Nolan isn't feeling well when he turns down an ice cream cone.

Friday night was miserable. He cried in his sleep every 15 minutes or so, and woke up several times. In an effort not to disturb the rest of the campground, I got up each time he fussed to check and see if he needed me. I gave him Tylenol, which did nothing, and had to go digging in my parent's camper at 5 a.m. for the Ibuprofen I had foolishly left over there. They heard me, but knew what I was looking for, as Nolan was crying quite loudly at that point.

After I gave Nolan his Ibuprofen, I snuggled him and asked him if his ears hurt. He said, "No". So I asked him what DID hurt. He calmly pointed at one ear and then the other and said, "This one and this one." I was sooo tired, but I still managed to laugh at that.

By Saturday afternoon, I waved the white flag and took Nolan to to the ER in Big Rapids (best ER experience EVER! In and out in a half hour!!!). Double ear infection. Other than the mystery diarrhea, Nolan had no other symptoms that would have led to an ear infection (no cold, no congestion, no runny nose...). The fever was a bug, as both Sam and Charlotte picked it up, but no one else had ear trouble. As much as I dread the thought, I think it is time to investigate tubes. I am not one for unnecessary medical intervention, but I also hate having him on antibiotics all the time, and I hate seeing how miserable he is when he is dealing with an infection. We shall see....we follow up with the pediatrician at the end of next week.