Parents' Intuition

Everyone that follows me or PK on Twitter knows that IK woke up crying tonight. At about 11pm he woke up crying. I gave him some Motrin because he's been teething. One tooth came in and we had a couple of days rest, then the other started coming in. He was very crabby the last couple of days and hasn't been eating or napping very well. He hasn't been sleeping very peacefully either.

At about 11:15, IK woke up again and was inconsolable. I felt helpless. I didn't know what to do for him. I had a horrible feeling that something was wrong. PK seemed to feel this way as well but we just didn't know what to do. After an hour of this, I called the doctor. I know it was after midnight but isn't that why they have a doctor on call? When I first decided to go to this pediatrician, they were very open with me about calling after hours. They wanted me to call if I felt there was something going on or I had questions. Now, I understand that the answering service is important. It keeps the doctors from getting a bunch of phone calls at home. It's a necessary evil if the doctors want to get sleep or have a life outside their jobs.

Having said that, I do not think that it is up to the answering service to decide whether or not I have given enough of a reason for a doctor to call me back. I called tonight after my baby had been crying and inconsolable for an HOUR. 60 minutes of screaming and what can only be considered writhing in pain. I tell this to the woman who answers the phone and she tells me that she needs more symptoms. The doctor isn't going to think crying is a good enough reason to call back. (According to her.) I had to take his temperature, rectally, while he's crying and freaked out already, so that she has enough symptoms to tell the doctor. Now, as far as I know, the answering service does not actually talk to the doctors. They page them to call my number. The doctor calls and needs me to tell them all of the information again. The doctor who called me back is not IK's regular doctor but one that I believe he has seen once or twice. She was very sweet to me and made me feel like I was right to call. No baby cries for an hour for no reason. I told her that IK NEVER does this and the only other time was when he had an ear infection. She said that she was thinking that it may be something along those lines and it would probably be a good idea to take him to the acute care center. She said that I should be prepared in case it was something that would need the hospital but she thought the acute care center would be able to check him out and just make sure.

Sure enough, IK has an ear infection in his right ear. I say Parents' Intuition because we know, mother or father, when there is something wrong with our children. If one of us calls the doctor, we have a good reason. We would never call just because our kid is crying and we don't know what to do with him. We call because our kid is crying and we've tried everything, including pain medication and he's still writhing in pain and crying hysterically.

I haven't decided yet if I will complain next time I go to the doctors' office. We'll see if my anger fades by the time the 2 weeks are up and IK has to be rechecked. What do you all think?