Three kids in one room. Each with sore throats. The first had impressively large tonsils but not too much redness. The teenager had a throat that made me wince to look at it. I felt pretty confident this was going to be strep throat. The two year old presented a challenge. She took my comment about bunnies in her ear quite seriously.  Her brother and sister chimed in. With each question they would throw out "is there a lion in your ear?" or "is there a kitty in your ear?' she would shake her head no. This made the ear exam a bit dicey. Finally she threw her hands up in the universal signal for "pick me up'. Her dad reached down and pulled her in his arms.

 Once settled she waved her hand in front of his face. I could not tell if she was trying to grab his beard or cover his mouth. Without pausing, he would bat her hand away and continue his conversation with me. Finally her hand shot in front of his mouth and silenced him. She threw back her head and giggled.

 When she was one month old I saw her in the emergency room. This would be her second admission to the hospital for apnea (not breathing). Her dad was pale and shaky. He had administered CPR to his newborn when she stopped breathing and would not take a breath despite his attempts to stimulate her.

 I asked him how  a parent  goes on after that moment. He said that he and his wife did not really sleep the first year of her life. Really. They mostly took shifts- watching her and waiting for that awful moment to occur again. And the prayed, alot.

 As our conversation continued, he pushed her hand away again and gave her a squeeze and a grin. She was worth it all  he said.

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