I was very much hoping that Harvey would not end up with a virus or bacteria before he is 18th months…..

 … but unfortunately he didn’t last that long!

 

Harvey had been having on and off cold for about 3 months and finally a secondary infection surfaced –  in the form of an ear infection.  For the best information on this, check out the RCH Fatcsheet: Ear infections

From what I heard from other parents, ear-infections can be quite painful and very make their children very cranky.  Neither of us suspected it for Harvey as we had been looking out for all the possible symptoms.  He didn’t show many signs of discomfort and we only realised it after we saw the discharge from the ear.

To treat the infection Harvey was prescribed with amoxicillin antibiotic for one week.

 

Amoxicillin:

Molecular Formula: C₁₆H₁₉N₃O₅S 

Molecular Weight = 365.4 g/mol

Mechanisms of actions:  Inhibit bacteria cell wall synthesis.  Check out this video if you are interested in the chemistry behind it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBdYnRhdWcQ

 

The biggest drama (much bigger than the infection) we had to go through however, was getting him to take just 1 mL of the Amoxicillin three times a day.  Oh the screams and drama!!! By then end of the week though, he was pretty okay with it and his ear had cleared up perfectly BUT…. exactly a week from the ear infection, Harvey has caught the gastro virus… For best information check out RCH Fatcsheet: Gastroenteritis (gastro)

We decided to take Harvey to Royal Children Hospital, mainly because his fever was very high and he was very much not himself.  He was probably the worst we have seen him.   I am sure we all know how horrible it feels and i’m sure it’s just as nasty for children.  I had gastro for the first time 2 years ago and I kid you not- I thought I was going die! And for me that was actually worse than the Child Birth!!!

Anyhow, seeing the doctor was a reassuring for me as I was on top of it.  No medicine was needed this time.  The key thing needed was to keep Harvey hydrated and ensure that we all increase our hygiene by 200%

We spent a week of cleaning poop and couple of days of vomit… my least favourite part of being a Mum!!!

Harvey has recovered well and was a delightful sick toddler.  We still have lots of laughs and fun around the house.  He does definitely have a high pain tolerance and sometimes it scares me in the sense that by the time we catch it – it has gone too far….

It took about 7 days before Harvey’s poop started to become solid like again… by day 6 we decided to give Harvey a Probiotic after I spoke to colleague about him.  I had forgotten to think about the side effects of the antibiotic Harvey has taken a week prior to Gastro.  Antibiotics upset the balance of good and bad bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract.  Aside from destroying the harmful bacteria, it also destroys beneficial bacteria at the same time.

Quick Information on diarrhoea in children: http://www.gutfoundation.com.au/_literature_45500/diarrhoea

We used the Probiotic Powder for babies.  There is not sufficient evidence to show that Probiotic is effective but it is a happy coincidence for us that Harvey’s poop has improved a day after starting the probiotic.  RCH factsheet Probiotics for infants and children

We will not be adding a Probiotic on a regular basis to Harvey’s diet but we will be using it in situations we think it would be beneficial to him or as advised by his Doctor.