Two Relieved Mamas

Bigfella has now had 4 of his 5 dosages of antibiotics.

Getting him the antibiotics was a bit of a struggle. The after-hours phone nurse was less than helpful, and the health department nurse scared the stuffing out of us. I finally yelled at Nurse Meany, and she got the doctor to phone in a prescription for Bigfella.

And, then my father, well-meaning man that he is, added to the anxiety by calling back 15 minutes after hearing the situation (which was appropriately phrased as "precautionary treatment with antibiotics") to make sure that the pediatrician had prescribed a medication that Bigfella was not allergic to. When I patiently explained that I wasn't too worried about an antibiotic reaction since I am not allergic to any medications, my ever-calm father announced that he is allergic to an antibiotic.

So, when I explained that there is no way to predict when a person will have an allergic reaction to a medication, he made me promise that we would use the Angelcare baby monitor and keep track of Bigfella's breathing all night. I hung up the phone and immediately cried to Dyke Two, "I have enough to worry about with the pertussis! I hadn't even thought about an allergy." While we hope that antibiotic allergies don't run in our families, it is clear that anxiety does!!

But, Bigfella seems fine. Happy and comfortable with his medication. His poop has been a little runny, but that could be the dairy I ate this weekend. Our second set of questions to Nurse Scary had centered on the wedding we were intending to attend this weekend. One of my best friends from college got married this weekend in his bride's home town an hour from Smallcity. Our entire posse of nerds from college (seriously, we played bridge and baked cookies every weekend in college--when we weren't studying at the library) were going to be in attendance, and having not had a night on the town since before Bigfella's birth, Dyke Two and I were willing to overlook the heterosexist practices of the state and toast the happy couple and spend a happy weekend with our family of choice.

When Nurse Scary heard about the wedding, she told us to go, and bring Bigfella. Apparently, pertussis has a 5 day incubation period before one becomes contagious. Since Bigfella would be at the wedding for days 3 and 4 post-exposure, and on antibiotics for 2 days when we left for the wedding, she thought it perfectly safe for him to go, even with the other babies he would be in contact with.

So, we went. And I wore a backless dress with a plunging neckline and the Victoria's Secret Very Sexy Infinity Edge convertible push up bra with gel curve shaping for extreme cleavage. And we danced. And we drank vodka cranberries and red wine. And we ate delicious food. And Bigfella smiled, and rolled around and laughed and sang and slept and nursed. In fact, he slept and nursed in the Ergo while I danced and drank.

And, we went out to the car after shutting down the party, and we strapped him in his carseat for the ride home. And he cried. And kept crying until we turned the radio on and listened to 70s Saturday Night. And then he slept again.

Apparently, Bigfella is already quite the party boy.