Bubble Gum

The good news: Annika weighed in at 19 lbs, 11 oz, and is 28 inches long. So she remains in the 75th percentile and is doing great.

The bad news: She still has an ear infection in one ear.

Ugh.

The doctor did not want to give her another injection, because he said that the injections are sort of for emergencies, when the baby is throwing up or there are other reasons that you can't give the medicine orally. If you give the injection too often to the baby, she builds up a resistance to it, and then you can't use it when you really need it. OK, that makes sense. Is there any way to get an antibiotic that doesn't taste like crap?

Sadly, no. Apparently pharmaceutical companies continue to be under the mistaken presumption that all kids, including little babies, love the taste of bubble gum. Seriously, where did this come from? Why not make medicine taste like apples? Or spaghetti? Why bubble gum? I have heard that there are some medicines where, if you pay a little extra, you can get the pharmacy to mix them up in a different flavor. But the antibiotic that the doctor prescribed is not one of those. It comes pre-flavored. And, although the pharmacist assured me that it tasted like raspberry, it actually tastes like bubble gum.

So I brought the medicine home. We're supposed to administer it 2 times a day for 10 days.  CVS gave me a bottle that is huge, and the medicine fills up about a quarter of it. Then they gave me a dropper that only fits half way into the bottle. So it takes some real gymnastics to try to get the dropper to the medicine. It'll be even more fun when the bottle is starting to run low.

But, I'm happy to say that Annika took it down without barfing. And then she drank a whole, 7 oz. bottle. So I'm praying that the nausea and vomiting from last time were caused at least partially from the cold she had, and that we won't see it again this time. She no longer has a cold. In fact, I think she's feeling pretty good. She had a good breakfast and actually had several spoonfuls of the Indian food that I ate for lunch. I had Palak Paneer, which is basically a spinach puree, and she gobbled it up, notwithstanding the fact that she won't eat any spinach when we feed it to her from the jar. Of course, this was all before we started the antibiotic, but things are looking positive so far.

And I guess we have a new excuse to eat at our favorite Indian restaurant - because it's the only way we can get Annie to eat her veggies! :)