All ears

About a week ago, Max started exhibiting some new behaviors -- whacking himself on the left side of the head, not sleeping well, hating diaper changes, and to top it all off--running a fever starting on Wednesday morning. We took him to the pediatrician, who diagnosed an ear infection and put him on a 10-day course of an antibiotic (Amoxicillin). Max continued to have fever and a rough couple of days when he was cranky and just not his sunny, active self. On Sunday, his chest and back were covered in spots. Today, we took him back to the pediatrician, who determined that Max is allergic to the Amoxicillin, and put him on a 3-day course of an alternative (Zithromax). His ear infection is looking better but still with him. Max is already showing signs of returning to a happier state.

As soon as the ear infection is beat back, we have a plan (with the blessing of the GI docs) to cut back Max's nighttime feeds and see what he can take by mouth during the day. We don't want to try this while he's not feeling well. We have an appointment with the GI clinic at the end of this month to report in.

In other news, Max was just approved for a Medicaid waiver (the Elderly or Disabled with Consumer Direction, or EDCD waiver). This is typically for older people, but the local Early Intervention staff told us that Max might be eligible and helped us figure out how to apply. This will allow us to use a nursing agency to provide nighttime respite care. We're still figuring out exactly what the parameters of the program are.

This afternoon, Max slept from 3-6 p.m. That meant he didn't go to bed for the night until almost 8 p.m. And THAT meant that the four of us got to have dinner together and play together in the sunroom tonight. And that was really nice.