The baby, Bryce, has been sick for a week with a cold. In fact everyone in my family has been sick for a week. Sore throats, headaches, runny noses, and grumpiness abound in my home this week. If someone isn't sleeping they are whining and complaining about life. Adults included.
Bryce awoke from his morning nap today with snot bubbles coming out of his nose. I picked him up and his little body was warm to my touch as if her were a little furnace. It was 11:00AM. If I was going to make it into the doctor today, a Saturday, I had better call right away.
The receptionist who answered the phone at the pediatrician's office said the nurse would call me back. She was with a patient and all the appointments were already taken up for the morning. She would triage me and decide if I needed to come in.
One hour later and one minute after the office had closed for the weekend, the nurse called me back. "What's going on with Bryce today?" the nurse asked me. I tell her about the week long cold that he doesn't seem to be getting over and the fever. She replies, "well, he should probably be seen, but we are closed for the weekend now." (thanks for your help) "If he gets any worse, you may need to take him to the emergency room before Monday.
Of we go to the urgent care clinic. It is a brand new building. I can still smell the fresh paint as I enter the office. The chairs in the waiting room are neatly arranged in a horseshoe. The two girls behind the desk are young and fresh and happy to be working here.
After paperwork and a short wait, we are called back to see the doctor. The handsome young male nurse takes me back and asks the obligatory family history questions. I tell him that Bryce has Down syndrome and sometimes it is hard for doctors to see in his ear. His ear canals are so small. This doesn't seem to faze him and off he goes to find the doctor. The doctor looks in Bryce's ears and says that they are both red. He can't see any fluid, but since they are so red, he's fairly certain he has an ear infection in both ears. He writes a prescription for antibiotics and off we go. Only $50 for this visit compared with the $100 ER visit we could have made.
Some things just don't seem fair. Bryce is the sweetest one of us all. He complained the least in his baby way. He hardly cried during any of this, including the week long cold. He behaved even better than David, my husband, who resigned himself to bed for 36 hours straight. Braydon (the 2 year old). has been practically miserable to be around for the last week. Payton has had her moments too. Through it all, Bryce was the sickest of us all. He only wanted to be held and kissed and loved, He asks so little of me as his mother. The only reason I knew he was really sick was that his little furnace turned on. Despite himself, he little body told me, hey there mom, I'm sick over here and I need to get to the doctor now.
How many other times in his life will Bryce be unassuming and un-demanding? How many other times in his life will I overlook his symptoms just because he doesn't make a huge fuss. His sister, Payton, would have me call out the national guard for a paper cut that requires half a tube of neosporin and about five band-aids.
I pray that I will be a good mother to him, to all of them. But how? It seems like such a daunting task. What happens when the issues are pre-marital sex, friends who are mean, boyfriends who don't call, failed science tests, speeding tickets, or worse? Will I be ready for all of that? Will I miss it? Or despite themselves, will their little furnaces turn up and tell mommy that something is wrong?
Finally the little snow hail has stopped pretending to be snow and has turned into big beautiful soft snowflakes. Maybe we'll make a snowman.
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