Time for a BIG sigh of relief!

It looks like Austin's health is now headed in the right direction.

After a few days with a rapidly rising fever, and daily visits to the pediatrician for checkups and antibiotic shots, it seems we hit the peak of the scare when Austin topped out with a fever of 106.5 the other night.

Calling it "impressive for such a small baby" (and not meaning that in a positive way, of course), it appears the fever even sparked much concern in our pediatrician - who then promptly ordered further testing on the little guy. The flu test came back negative right away, and we had to wait till early evening for the results of the bloodwork to make sure he didn't have an infection in his bloodstream.

Turns out, to everyone's great relief, he tested negative for meningitis. So, it looks like all this stemmed from the ear infections, and the possibility, of course, that he may have picked up a bug of some sort on top of it.

And since by that time he was now willing to smile again (a glorious site considering how he'd been prior), and his fever seemed not as toasty, it did look like things were taking a turn for the better finally.

This morning, with Austin feeling much cooler in the head, we headed to see the Doctor for his last scheduled daily checkup for this illness.

Noting that his color has drastically improved, his fever appeared to have receded, his bloodwork came back clean, and he was more alert and attentive, we were released after one more shot of antibiotics in the baby thigh (much to Austin's chagrin.)

However, due to the severity of this latest round of ear infections, we were sent on our way with a prescription for another round of antibiotics (starting tomorrow), and the instructions to have him checked out by an Ear/Nose/Throat specialist as soon as possible (most preferably within the next two weeks) to get Austin started on the road to tube-ville.

Hopefully, once those tubes are in place, we'll be spared from another event like this one!

And yes, Austin does still have messy ears right now that are keeping him a bit on the irritable side, (they definitely won't be going away overnight) but at least the overall issue that was making it so much more serious appears to have subsided.