Bad news has multiplied like Gremlins in the Villano house this week. First L came down with her first doozie of a cold. Then the cold triggered a double ear infection—one in each of her tiny little ears.

Since Wednesday evening (during which Powergirl was up all night), we’ve crafted our lives around L’s routine of antibiotics, Benadryl and Ibuprofen. We also have taken turns walking the house at night, so the baby can sleep on our shoulders (she’s so congested, this is the only way she can actually breathe).

While the medicine seems to be working, this morning we received another curveball: The antibiotic is causing a nasty rash all over L’s body.

And so, a new cycle—with entirely different medicine—is about to begin.

Considering this is L’s first significant health hiccup, the entire experience has been a learning process for all three of us. Some thoughts (and questions):

• No matter how painful a double ear infection is, it must be ten times worse to have a double ear infection and not be able to communicate well enough to tell your momma or daddy where it hurts. The poor thing.
• We have called our health care provider’s advice nurses five times in the last 72 hours. Is this a lot? Is this standard? Are we being delinquent? I wonder.
• L hates hates hates it when I wipe her nose. Why? At what point will she not mind?

Oh, and one more thing. While I hate that the baby has been so drowsy and sleepy, I admit that I’ve thoroughly loved the way she’s fallen asleep on my chest the last few days. They’re a throwback to her first few months on Earth, when she’d nap that way all the time. I know she’ll get sick lots of times throughout her childhood. The chest-plants, however, are something we may never see again.