Samuel experienced his very first ear infection a few weeks ago. It was bad with infections in both ears and a great deal of pain and lost sleep. I took this photo in the doctor’s office right before she wrote a prescription for his second round of antibiotics to get rid of the stubborn infection once and for all.

It got worse last night with our very first trip to the ER. It seems this little boy has an allergy to Penicillin. An allergy that showed itself through symptoms like vomiting, puffy eyes and a rash that covered most of his stomach and went up under his arms. The symptoms appeared at 12:30 last night and I spent the next 5 or so hours in the Emergency Room – about 3 and a half of them sitting in a uncomfortable chair before they moved us to an examining room. I was worried and scared but held it together until I reached the admitting window and then I very nearly lost it. The only other time that I had experienced this type of panic was when I was giving birth to Thomas.

We are lucky that we have one of the very best pediatric ER’s in the state just minutes up the road at the same hospital where both boys were born. It meant that we could sit in a waiting room with other parents and their children in a special waiting room, rather than being subjected to other traumas that might come through the door. The worst thing I had to witness was a mother who, after telling me that her son was in the ER for the second night in a row for Asthma, stepped outside to have a cigarette. I held my tongue but I was dying to ask her what she was thinking exposing her son to a habit that could further endanger his health.

The good news is that now we know about Samuel’s allergy and can avoid penicillin so it doesn’t happen again. The bad news is that we need to give him medication every six hours – especially painful now that he’s just started sleeping through the night. Nevertheless he is on the road to recovery and I am about to catch up on some much needed sleep. I know that with two boys this is likely not our last visit to the ER but I would be happy not to have to go through it again.