Once upon a time, there was a little baby girl named Gwen. She would cry day and night. If she bumped her head, she cried. If she was hungry, she cried. If she had a dirty diaper, she cried. And these reasons for crying were all well and good. But sometimes she would cry for lesser reasons. In fact, she would cry about things that were not worthy of being cried over. She would cry if she wanted to play in the refrigerator and mommy closed the refrigerator door. She would cry if her poodle licked her in the face, even if it had made her laugh just seconds before. She would cry if her mommy set her down so she could use the bathroom. She would cry all of the time. And little Gwen wanted to make sure that all the people around her knew just how upset she was. So she would cry loudly. And she would cry long. Tears would stream down her face. And she would get laryngitis. She was driving her mommy crazy.
Gwen's mommy had taken her to see the doctor many times. She would have felt absolutely awful if Gwen's crying were due to an unnoticed sickness, so on days where Gwen seemed especially crabby, mommy would call up the doctor for a sick appointment. The doctor started to think Gwen's mom was absolutely crazy. Gwen's mommy even took her to the urgent care twice because she was worried about undiagnosed ear infections and UTIs. But the tests always came back negative and Gwen and her mommy were always sent home with the same message: "Sometimes babies are just extra cranky." And boy, was Gwen cranky.
Right before Gwen got her first tooth, Gwen's mommy took her to the doctor again. She was pretty sure that this was teething crankiness, but the only way to be sure was with a trip to the pediatrician. The doctor did a full examination to discover that there was absolutely nothing wrong with little Gwen. She didn't even have any teeth that were ready to pop through. 9 days later, however, she did get her first tooth, so her mommy gave her the benefit of the doubt.
Over the next 7 days she stayed as cranky and irritable as ever. She woke her mommy up at least 5 times a night and woke her up to start the day at 4:30 every day. Gwen's mommy was used to this behavior, however, and took things in stride. But then Gwen had her regular check-up at the doctor's office. When the doctor looked in her ear she said, "Oh! She has an ear infection! Has she been pulling on her ears or crankier than usual?" The answer was no. She had been her usual level of crankiness.
So what is the moral of the story? If you are always cranky and show no other symptoms of illness, mommy has no way to know if you are sick.
Gwen's mommy had taken her to see the doctor many times. She would have felt absolutely awful if Gwen's crying were due to an unnoticed sickness, so on days where Gwen seemed especially crabby, mommy would call up the doctor for a sick appointment. The doctor started to think Gwen's mom was absolutely crazy. Gwen's mommy even took her to the urgent care twice because she was worried about undiagnosed ear infections and UTIs. But the tests always came back negative and Gwen and her mommy were always sent home with the same message: "Sometimes babies are just extra cranky." And boy, was Gwen cranky.
Right before Gwen got her first tooth, Gwen's mommy took her to the doctor again. She was pretty sure that this was teething crankiness, but the only way to be sure was with a trip to the pediatrician. The doctor did a full examination to discover that there was absolutely nothing wrong with little Gwen. She didn't even have any teeth that were ready to pop through. 9 days later, however, she did get her first tooth, so her mommy gave her the benefit of the doubt.
Over the next 7 days she stayed as cranky and irritable as ever. She woke her mommy up at least 5 times a night and woke her up to start the day at 4:30 every day. Gwen's mommy was used to this behavior, however, and took things in stride. But then Gwen had her regular check-up at the doctor's office. When the doctor looked in her ear she said, "Oh! She has an ear infection! Has she been pulling on her ears or crankier than usual?" The answer was no. She had been her usual level of crankiness.
So what is the moral of the story? If you are always cranky and show no other symptoms of illness, mommy has no way to know if you are sick.
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