Remember that time I let a two-year old Ava walk around with a broken hand for five days before taking her to the pediatrician for an unrelated ear infection and discovering the broken bone by accident? (story, bonus pictures) Stellar example of motherly instinct there.
Well, this time it's Michael. He developed a cough a couple of weeks ago. There was no fever, no runny nose, no obvious signs of illness. He was just coughing. At first it was a little. Then it was nearly constant. Finally I called the pediatrician. We discussed it over the phone. Our best guess was mild asthma triggered by fall allergies. We brought him in for a "listen" and to discuss treatment yesterday morning.
We walked out with a diagnosis of walking pneumonia, a prescription for some fancy antibiotics, instructions to use his inhaler faithfully three times a day, and a directive to return in 10 days to be sure we kicked it. Lovely. This time I let my 4 year old walk around with pneumonia for two weeks before calling in an expert. You'd think I'd learn to be a little less conservative about calling the pediatrician.
