Siena had complained for almost a week about her ear hurting. Monday she was phlegmy, but generally OK. Then on Monday afternoon Mama got the call that Siena had a fever, at 101 degrees. Upon climbing the steps at home after getting out of the car, she threw up. She was up every three hours Monday night and stayed home Tuesday with me and got seemed to get better. But then last night was a disaster. Around 10:30 she came out of her room crying about being afraid of the rain, which was pelting down. Not really a problem per se, but the crying and the very stuffed sinuses weren’t helpful. Then at midnight she woke up again complaining about how much her ear hurt. It hurt her quite a lot even to try to blow her nose. I gave her some kid’s ibuprofin (not Motrin, though, since that’s on recall) and sat with her for around 45 minutes, then got her to bed. She woke up within a few hours, and continued to do so throughout the rest of the night. At one point Mama went in to sit with her for an hour (maybe more?). Later on, the dog and cat separately were making noises and got us up in the 5:30 – 6:15 time frame. Ugh.

Got Siena to the doctor, paid the $35 copay, and confirmed an ear infection. She’ll be on what I called the “pink juice” (antibiotics, bubblegum-flavored, presumably) for a week. Siena was jacked up on ibuprofin at that point (Mama had given her more at 6 AM), so she was feeling no pain. Smiling, making jokes, bouncing around. Good to see her smile, at least, but the side-effects in the coming days aren’t going to be so fun.

Fortunately, Mama has the day off today (working both days this weekend though, alas), and Siena was hoping to stay home with her, so I’m sure all will be well for her today.