Call the authorities!

I think that if Micah could talk, today he would have been telling you to call the authorities on me. Apparently, I have been practicing the worst kind of torture and abuse on my little man. He shrieked and screamed bloody murder today to try and get someone to notice and put an end to my torture, but to no avail. Let me put this in context for you . . . .

Micah came down with his first cold when he was about 5 weeks old. As we were instructed, we sprayed some saline up his nose and used the blue squeegy thing from the hospital to suction out the mucous. I can't say Micah enjoyed this, but he was usually fairly calm for the first few attempts to clear his nose. After 4 or 5 times, he would cry, and I would set it aside for another time.

A bit later (I think he was 3 months old?), Micah came down with another cold. This time, he was older, smarter, and stronger. He very quickly learned to recognize the blue squeegy . . . and hate it. He would begin to scream at the first glimpse of the squeegy, and if I brought it near his nose, he would hit and kick and shriek and turn his head away. I must say, he had gotten quite strong. I quickly realized that all the hysteria resulted in more mucous, and I made the decision that it was not worthwhile to even attempt to squeegy his nose. I did try using a squeegy that was not blue . . . but Micah was smart enough to quickly recognize that as well. I then began to just wipe his nose with a cloth. It is far less effective, but it seemed to create very little upset, and it was "good enough."

Unfortunately, this cold did not seem to disappear. It persisted . . . and persisted . . . and persisted. Micah has been stuffy for over 2 months now. At his 4 month appointment, I discussed it with the doctor, and he did not seem concerned. I have been working very hard to not be concerned about it, either. Since I am tired of being that crazy mom who brings her son to the doctor for everything, I've just let it be. Until today.

Yesterday, Micah started to cough. His congestion intensified, and he just did not seem to be feeling well. Today, he woke up coughing, and the mucous had turned green. I called the doctor, and we went in for a sick appointment. I made sure all the nurses heard him coughing and sneezing (just in case he miraculously got better as the doctor walked in the room). All this time, I have been wiping his nose with a cloth, with very little upset. That is, until the past few weeks. Lately, each and every time, Micah shrieks bloody murder. Yes, ladies and gentleman, to hear it from Micah, I have been practicing the worst kind of abuse . . . nose wiping.

Micah gets mad when he even sees the cloth. I have to sneak attack him, and he kicks and hits and arches his back and turns his face away. He then sobs these loud uncontrollable pained sobs indicating how tortured he is. He makes sure to do this in very public places so that everyone can tell what a horrible mother I am. So, on behalf of my son, you may need to call the authorities and inform them that, indeed, I have been nose wiping him. Daily. Multiple times. And if I had it my way, I'd be using the squeegy, too.

In case you were wondering . . . they think he might have a sinus infection. They took a nose culture to find out (you should have seen what he did to that nurse who tried to stick a swab up his nose!) and we should have the results back either Friday or Monday. They confirmed he was running a low grade fever, his throat was red (probably from post-nasal drip) and he does not have strep throat. If he has a sinus infection, they'll give us antibiotics. I did not get a very good answer about what they will do if it is not a sinus infection. Remember - they insist that babies do not get allergies. So, because colds do not persist this long, and babies do not have allergies, if it is not a sinus infection, we are SOL.