that's what the doctor said

my mom & i walking our 'babies' in the fresh spring air

with four little one's sharing cups, utensils & who know's what else {i actually caught davith licking kai this morning}, we can usually be sure that if one catches something so do the others. what is interesting about this is that with different incubation stages & severity we often end up taking each to the walk-in clinic a day after each other meaning we get sometimes up to four different doctor's opinions about the same virus or flu.

this has been one of those weeks. they all have bad ear & upper respiratory infections. liv was the first & got a nice big dose of antibiotics. in fact we were in & out of the walk-in in a record 5 minutes which is unheard of. kai & dav went in today & after 2 hrs of waiting got nothing... even though they seemed much worse than liv {davith screamed ALL night long because he was in such pain}. the boy's doctor was pretty hesitant to prescribe anything even though he was quick to describe how much pain they must be in. and it's kinda weird but i really liked him. i could tell why he was so behind in his patient load, because he liked to make sure that i really understood what was going on in their little bodies. he even drew a little diagram {despite the fact that livi threw a colossal sized fit in that very small office the moment he stepped in the door... he just talked louder & tried to stay out of the way of her flailing limbs}.

i liked him because he educated me on the more difficult but definitely best plan of treatment for my boys. he said that over 90% of doctors over-prescibe antibiotics & because of this we end up getting antibiotic resistant infections & end up needing stronger antibiotics clearing out any good flora in our system making us more susceptible to more sickness & more antibiotics {story of our lives earlier this year... dav went on a 40 day course of antibiotics with no improvement}. he said that antibiotics should only be prescribed for persistent tylenol/advil resistant fevers averaging very high {like above 100 degrees}. they had had a low grade fever for over a week but tylenol always had lowered it {we had used 2 bottles of children's tylenol & 1 bottle of children's advil in 5 days... but it was not for any high fevers just general misery}. he also said to alternate using tylenol & advil for pain control as it is easier for your liver & more effective on pain. he said tubes could be a long term solution for davith, who is prone to ear infections but that opening the windows during the day & closing them at night but leaving the room cool with limited bedding {to prevent dust mites & other things from increasing congestion}. apparently using a humidifier is a myth from a study done over the course of a day & actually adds to harmful house mould if used long run.  he also said if dav started to scream through the night to take him for a walk outside or get him to sit up for awhile to let the fluid drain. he said that's why most kids who cough like crazy at home don't cough at the drs office as there are less environmental factors irritating them {i have always wondered about that because i've always felt like it must look like i'm a liar}. he could tell they were congested from the bags under their eyes {not sure what he deduced from the bags under mine ;)}. but i overall, even though not receiving any actual drug treatment, drove my miserable family home feeling competent, prepared & ready to kick this steady flow of colds & flus coming through our house recently.

i can still remember that pram & our dog 'lady' & that

doll with the weird hair :)

and so the moral of the story is no more of those new fan-dangled antibiotics unless absolutely necessary. get on top of pain control. open those windows {steve's gonna hate it but i'm gonna LOVE it! i love fresh air & have always talked about it's benefits much to our furnaces chagrin}. lots & lots of water & maybe a little midnight walk or two. it's not the easiest plan of treatment but hopefully the lack of antibiotics will boost their system to be able to start fighting off sickness for themselves.

it brought back so many memories of my nana leaving us babies outside in the pram with the cold fall air to take our naps or the lullaby my mom used to sing to me before bed...

"good-night to little sarah, she's going to sleep. 

the clock is striking 7, she's nodding her head. 

windows are open & prayers have been said. 

good night to little sarah, she's going to bed". 

generations of such wisdom. wish i had listened earlier.