When Idioms Come True

or an alternate blog post title might be...

One of Many Reasons Life is Never Boring at Our House

We've all told someone else that we'll Put a bug in her ear about something, right?  Freedictionary.com defines the idiom this way:

to impart useful information to another in a subtle, discreet way

That's nice. And often so necessary in relationships.

However, that is not the definition of bug in your ear that we experienced recently. Here's how the story goes...

EG began to have ear pain in the middle of the night about 10 days ago. By morning, it was clear that I needed to take her to the pediatrician. She was screaming in pain. Having been swimming the night before, I assumed that perhaps she'd acquired swimmer's ear and a resulting (albeit super-fast onset) ear infection...

Praise God that when I called the doctor at 7:30am, they answered right away and gave us a mid-morning appointment. And thanks be to God that my mom is here, allowing me to take that appointment and get out the door with just two children (Baby H came along)!

By the time we arrived at the doctor's office, EG was experiencing sudden, sharp pain and popping in her ear. Sitting in the waiting room, she was grabbing her ear and screaming, crying. Miserable. I could not help her. I hate that. I was praying, asking others to pray (love text messaging for those moments), trying to comfort her. We both look back and thank God that the waiting room was empty and that we were taken to an exam room quickly.

She was diagnosed with a severe ear infection and the pediatrician graciously gave her some pain medication right there. I took poor EG to the pharmacy where we picked up her antibiotic, then we swung by Jack in the Box for a (fun) drink to wash down the meds.

As the day wore on, EG rested, but kept complaining about pain and discomfort. By evening, she was screaming again. Oh, that's something terrible to hear. The helplessness. Turning to God in prayer, calling BB home from an evening meeting, considering an ER visit. Praying for wisdom. I let her take her pain medicine closer together than recommended. She finally fell asleep close to midnight and slept through the night. Thank God.

In following days, the pain eased, but she still complained of discomfort. After a week or so I had a duh moment: I have an otoscope. Why don't I take a look in the ear, see if the infection is looking better. I'll blame that lapse in common sense on my sleep-deprived state.

After taking a look in her ear, I decided to take mom's advice and try flushing the ear a bit. After a couple of flushes, I made a most unnerving discovery....the above pictured INSECT.

Gross. Gross. Gross. Blech. Poor, poor EG.

I did not tell her that night what had come out, in the interest of allowing her the peace of mind to sleep well that night.

Anyway. We were off to the pediatrician the next morning, bug in a ziplock, EG laughing about it. I'm thankful that she took the news with a good sense of humor! (Again, praising God mama was here to hold down the fort while I ran EG to the doctor again...for a family that rarely goes to the doctor at all, we're making quite a path to that location...5 visits in about 4 weeks between Baby H and EG!)

So that's most of the story. Crazy? Yes. So. Weird.

Right now, she is still being treated for an infection, which resulted from the trauma caused by the idiotic bug who went in but couldn't back himself out. And she requires a visit to the ENT this week, I'm thinking, because as I look in there with the scope, all is not looking quite right yet.

But the worst is over, for sure.

We've counted blessings, EG writing them in her Thankfulness Notebook. We've laughed over it.

What an interesting, not boring life God has given us.