It was another late night
at the home of Matt and Ciara Hardy. Their six-month old baby boy,
Matthew, was up, crying almost nonstop.
"Matt, what do you think is
the matter with him? He just won't settle down." Ciara said,
rocking the cranky baby in her arms.
"I don't know, love. We've
tried everything; giving him a bottle, burping him, changing his diaper,
putting in the TLC video. Maybe Dad will know." Matt said, still
pissing in the wind, as far as a solution to this problem.
"Matt, don't call your dad,
it's two-thirty in the morning. For God's sake, he's probably gonna
be up in about two hours anyway to do his farming stuff." Ciara said as
she felt her baby son's forehead.
"It's either him or Grandma.
They are the only ones I can think of to call that are nearby. Or we can
call your folks up home." Matt said, taking his baby son in his arms.
That usually would calm the boy down, but he was still screaming like a
banshee. Matt, just like his wife, felt the boy's head. It was incredibly
warm.
"Ciara, he's simply burning
up. I don't know what to do." Matt said, trying to calm his screaming
son down, by trying to get his son to focus on his little toy bunny that
Ciara's sister got his son for Easter. The bunny was to no avail.
Matt tried walking around the room with him, and Matty was still cranky.
"Should we take him to the emergency
room?" Ciara said, getting her clothes on.
"Yeah, maybe you are right.
Better nip whatever he has in the bud before it gets any worse." Matt said,
grabbing Matty's nearby fleece blanket, and bundling his son up in it.
He put Matty's hat on, and the kid was still screaming (of course, what
baby likes to wear a hat?).
Ciara handed Matt a hairtie,
so he could tie his hair back, and she handed him a shirt that was laying
on the chair in the bedroom. Matt quickly got dressed, put some shoes
on, and went out and started the car.
They arrived at the hospital
in Sanford, with a still-screaming Matty in the backseat. Ciara took
her son out of his carseat, and carried him inside to the waiting room.
She sat down at a desk, and
explained the situation.
"My son has been just crying
uncontrollably all night. My husband also said his forehead
is kind of warm. And his ears look kind of red." Ciara said, as she
held the crying baby.
"Okay, we'll get the doctor
on staff soon, Mrs. Hardy." the nurse told her.
Matt saw his wife walk back
over, and hand him his son. Matt tried to calm him down by giving
him his pacifier, and it worked a little bit. He stopped crying for
about five minutes, and looked at his father. A couple of minutes
afterward, Matty started crying again.
"I know, Matty, I know.
We'll get you all better soon, little man." Matt said, as he held his son
close to him. He hated to see his little boy suffer.
"Matthew Hardy." the doctor
called. Matt handed his wife the baby and walked in behind them.
"Now, Mrs. Hardy, what seems
to be the problem with baby Hardy here?" the doctor asked her.
"He's been just screaming all
night, and he feels a bit warm. Not to mention his ears look a bit
red." Ciara said, taking Matt's hand, as the doctor took the baby, and
started examining his ears..
"Now, let's see..........hm...
yes, I think I found the problem." the doctor said. Matt looked at
her.
"What's wrong, with him, doctor?"
Matt asked, a bit worried.
"Ear infection. Just give
him this medicine twice a day, about two drops to his ear, which should
also be plugged up with cotton." she said, handing the prescription over
to Matt. "You might also want to try the pacifier. His chewing on
it will help keep the ear passages open, and it will take some of his pain
away. This should run it's course in about a week or so. Ear
infections are quite common in teething infants, which we can clearly see
would be your son. When I was checking him, I noticed a little tooth
coming in." the doctor said, smiling.
"So, what are we to do tonight
about his medicine? There aren't any pharmacies open this late."
Ciara said, concerned that their son would keep them up all night.
"Yes there is. Walgreen's
is still open." Matt said to Ciara.