And the worrying award goes to ... me!

I learned in the wee hours of Saturday morning that 4 a.m. is not my best decision-making time. Paulie had been diagnosed with an ear infection Monday of that week. The doctor put him on antibiotics, but rather than getting better, he got worse. He developed a deep, barking chest cough and by Friday night he had spiked a fever for the first time that week. Before bed, Mark called the on-call service and talked to a doctor. He recommended we make an appointment at the Saturday clinic and if Paul's breathing became labored we needed bring him to the ER. (By the way, the Saturday clinic is a favorite weekend destination for the Thiel family!)

Paul slept fitfully that night. By 4 a.m. he was thrashing about uncomfortably in our bed. He was running a fever, having coughing fits and acting a bit delirious. Now, I know that kids run higher fevers than adults. Nevertheless, it's always unnerving to me. Even when I'm at my level best, my mind can conjure some truly fantastical worst-case scenarios. But at 4 a.m. after being awakened for the usual Gus feedings and then to take care of Paul, my mind was churning out some doozies. What if he has some kind of serious infection? I thought. I kept coming back to this book I had read a review of about a mom whose daughter is healthy one day and dies of a strep infection the next.

Mark, of course, was up too. Thankfully, he's more level-headed than me. Yet we were struggling to make a decision about taking Paul to the ER. He didn't seem to be having trouble breathing, but he was in sorry shape overall. His appointment at the clinic was just four hours away. But that four hours seemed like an eternity. I fretted and watch the minutes tick by until 4:45. "Take him," I told Mark. "Wait, maybe not." Blessedly, sleep overtook me at 5 a.m. and the decision was made for me.

Mark took Paulie to the clinic at 8:15. The doctor thought he detected a small spot of pneumonia on Paul's chest x-ray, so he upped his antibiotics. Waiting had turned out to be the right decision. I'd like to think I learned something from this, but I'll probably react the same way next time. I didn't win the worrying award for nothing. By the way, Paul's cough remains, but he is getting better.