Seriously?

I know it must get old reading about snotty noses and poopy diapers, but since that's my life it's all I know these days. Actually it's really all I've known continuously for the past 4 1/2 years that I've been growing babies into little people. I don't consider myself an expert in certain areas, but there are some things I've had lots of experience with over the past few years. For instance, snotty noses and poopy diapers. Lots of experience. So I guess that's why I was so incredibly PERTURBED yesterday by a phone call I received from a nurse.

Stuart woke up around midnight Monday night with croup. Again. Second time in a month. From midnight until nearly 6 am he barked and struggled to breathe. Croup is such a strange condition though because it's awful...horrible....and very scary in the middle of the night but once morning comes it practically disappears. So we made it through the night and I called the children's clinic and left a message for the nurse, explaining that Stuart had cold like symptoms, a fever AND had what I believed was the croup again. I explained his symptoms that had occurred overnight and said on my message that I didn't know if I would need to bring him in or if they might just prescribe the steroids again that worked last time (as if they would let me escape from coming in and dropping off a co-pay, but it was worth the suggestion).

About an hour later, as I'm standing in line at the post office, my cell phone rings and this is what I get: (and I wish I could imitate the annoying nasal and condescending voice so you'll just have to imagine)

"Ma'am.....I spoke to the Dr. and you need to understand there is no reason to bring a baby into a doctor's office for just a runny nose and a cold. Babies get colds all the time and they usually get over them after a week or so, so just make sure you feed him and he's eating ok, and call us if it's anything more serious than a runny nose."

Are you kidding me? Let me just say, she was very very lucky I was in a public place surrounded by a lot of people who would have called the authorities had I not controlled my reaction.

After "stating" (as opposed to screaming) that since this is my third baby in 4 years, I believe I might know the difference by now between a runny nose and something more serious, thank you very much. And if she thought that I just wanted to spend one of my only free mornings sitting in that office, she was wrong. And as much as I would rather go Christmas shopping, something I have yet to do, I did not want to spend another sleepless night wondering if my child could actually breathe.

So I did take him in after all and he does in fact have croup AND an ear infection. He was a very sick little baby. And I knew it.

Sometimes that Mommy degree outranks RN's. And MD's.