On Friday, as we came home from camp, N was sick. (I can't remember if I already posted on this). We went to the urgent care clinic and he had an xray and they determined it was bronchitis. They gave him a breathing treatment and a prescription for an inhaler and augmentin (in case it was bacterial.) 
We got the prescription filled Friday night. It was a little weird as the pharmacist was mixing the antibiotic, because she kept adding little bits of water to the powder bottles and swishing it around and mixing it more. I figured she was making sure she got all of the medicine out.
I decided to start the antibiotic Saturday night, since he still had fever. The medicine was really clumpy and the consistency of elmers glue. By Sunday, he seemed a lot better, so he went to school on Monday. No fever. At 10am they called me to come get him because he was throwing up. I called and made an appointment with the pediatrician for later that afternoon.
By the time I got him home (fever 101.2) I had decided he probably threw up because he didn't eat much before he took the Augmentin, but decided to go to the appointment anyway. At the doctor's office, he said the bronchitis sounded much better, and to discontinue to Augmentin because he thinks it was viral so the medicine wasn't doing anything for him. He said to keep him home until he went 24 hours with no fever. (Which is why he is home today.)
Late yesterday afternoon, I got a call from the pharmacist. She wanted to know if N had had any reactions to the Augmentin. Was he having hives, vomiting, diarrea, etc. I told her that he had thrown up that morning, but the doctor said to discontinue the drug, so I didn't think he would do it again. She said ok and hung up.
It seems really weird to me that she would call. Why would a pharmacist check in with a patient to see if they were tolerating a drug well? I called my mom and we figured that it COULD be that they wanted to show good customer service, so they could keep my business. But, when I recounted the story about mixing the drug, and that it was lumpy and thick she was more suspicious.
We determined that she probably was concerned that she overdosed him. Since she was using two different bottles of powder, maybe she thought they each were half full, and maybe they were both a little more than that. I don't know. It seems weird. I basically let her off the hook by telling her that he wasn't going to take it anymore, so she didn't have to explain why she called. But, it is likely that she thought about it all weekend and decided that she needed to check and see if she had given him too much medicine.
If that is the case, then I suppose that it is a good thing that she checked in. So, maybe I should be grateful that we have a conscientious pharmacist, but something in the back of my head is still worried. I know everyone makes mistakes, but in some jobs, you just shouldn't. I suppose that with an antibiotic it isn't necessarily a big deal...but it could have been something different.
Or, I could be overreacting. It wouldn't be the first time.
Anyway--my point in this long drawn out story is twofold. First, my kitchen looks like a pharmacy. 
And second, Monday was supposed to be my very first day with no kids for 3 whole hours. That will now wait until Friday, but isn't that an amazing thought?? For the last 10 1/2 years, I have had one kid or another home at all times. Last year, J was in preschool two days a week, but I worked in R's class one of the days and the other day I alternated between N and J's classes. So, this is really a first to me.
Of course, I have left them with sitters and stuff, but that is for a specific reason, and I am back to them when I have finished that purpose, doctor's appointment, date night, etc. Something about this seems so different. I'm not just away from them for a specific purpose. There will be days that I won't have any obligations--and they will be away from me anyway.
Next year, J will be in kindergarten. That will be 5 days a week that they are ALL IN SCHOOL. I've never wanted to get a job when the kids were all in school, but I don't actually know what I will do with the time...I will still volunteer at the school a lot, but there will be at least 2 days a week that I am not up there. Weird. I can almost hear crickets.
And, I'm not letting myself go down the train of thought that they aren't babies anymore, because, really, who needs to watch me cry right now??
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