I'm a Western Medicine girl

You know that cold of Zeke's that I've mentioned from time to time? Well, it turns out it's a sinus infection. Yesterday was the third time I've taken him to the doctor because of a stuffy nose, but now he's developed a hacking cough as well, and instead of clear mucus, last week he sneezed and blew a big river of green goo down his face. So the doc put him on antibiotics and albuterol (for his coughing), and last night he slept much better than he has for the last few nights because he wasn't waking himself up coughing every few minutes. It's so hard seeing him suffer -- last night he was so in need of mommy-love that he cried if I tried to put him down at all, and even when I held him he would sort of moan softly -- he was obviously really uncomfortable. Poor little pooper.

So finally getting some drugs for him was a huge relief. Last year the FDA came out with this decision/ruling/recommendation/whatever that over-the-counter cold medications, even those ostensibly developed for children, were verboten for babies under the age of 2. So up to now, the doctors have been telling me to put saline drops in his nose and put a humidifier in his room (both of which I did) and that he would just have to suffer through it until his body worked it out. I found these namby-pamby recommendations to be hugely unsatisfying, because one of my family's mottos is "better living through chemistry." If you've got a problem, Big Pharma has a solution. My mother has even taken this theory global -- she knows exactly what drugs can be purchased over-the-counter in which countries, so if you're going on a trip, she's likely to put in an order for Australian allergy medicine or Mexican ambien or Romanian headache pills. Her medicine cabinet is a wonder to behold, and I love and respect her for it.