Follow-up with the pediatrician

After Oliver's short stay in the hospital at the beginning of the week, we went to his pediatrician this morning for a quick follow-up. As a precautionary measure, he'd taken a steroid called dexamethasone the first two nights back at home to prevent the airways from constricting, (croup typically strikes at night) but didn't appear to have any lingering symptoms, so I wasn't surprised when the doctor declared Oliver recovered. While croup cases can range from mild to severe, the good news he said is that even cases serious enough to require hospitalization have a quick recovery rate.

Just as I had requested at the hospital, I had Oliver's pediatrician check his ears...just in case. Oliver has been infection-free since the beginning of the year, but with every tug of the ear, I become more paranoid. I feel like it's impossible to tell (given the symptoms Oliver displays at least) whether his extreme crankiness is an ear infection or just teething. After Oliver's front two teeth finally started coming in a few weeks ago, we had a period of good sleep and general good mood out of Oliver, but by this past weekend, he was back to displaying periods of being inconsolable. His ears looked good, though, but the doctor did notice what looked like emerging teeth on his bottom left gum line.