October 1, 2000 - Sunday
Just as Harry seemed to be returning to his old self, smiling and playing about the floor, his mother started to notice that his right ear seemed sensitive to the touch and this evening was oozing some kind of residue. There was earwax mixed in, but the color suggested that the wax wasn't alone and the quantity strongly hinted that something else was not right with Harry. The doctor's office was, of course, closed Sunday evenings, but the message did offer an emergency number that would allow us to speak with the doctor on-call.

Is earwax-plus an emergency? We didn't really know. Thankfully, we haven't had much experience with baby medical emergencies. We didn't particularly want to play the role of overly concerned and over the edge parents and interrupt some doctor's Sunday evening for nothing, but Harry didn't seem right. While everyone says that first time parents always overreact, people also always caution about little ear infections. Of course, we called.

The doctor said we did the right thing and a serious discussion about whether or not we ought to go to an emergency room pretty much confirmed that this was no small matter. But, by the end of the conversation, it was decided that, because his ear seemed less sensitive than earlier in the day rather than more so and his temperature was not seriously high, there was not likely to be an immediate crisis. Another visit to the doctor's office tomorrow morning after a night's rest would likely be soon enough to check poor Harry's ear.


Comments, opinions?