Which is worse?

Reagan ran this little (tiny, really) fever yesterday - less than 99 degrees. Being the relaxed supercool mom that I am, I chalked it up to teething. After all, everything that is "wrong" with my child comes from teething. I gave her Tylenol and put her to bed. Standard night. At around 2 AM, Reagan wakes up crying. Hubby decides to rescue her and goes into her supercool room and picks her up. Minutes later I find him standing beside the bed, child in tow, telling me she had a fever. Of 103.7. Thinking he was delusional I reassured him that wasn't possible. I got out of bed and felt the flaming body of my poor little girl. And here is when all supercoolness left our household. We called the hospital and followed their instructions - give her Tylenol, check her temp. in 2 hours, come in if it is still high ("high" apparently being a term all parents are supposed to be able to interpret). For two hours I sat in the recliner, holding Reagan while she seemed to be burning. I slept not. At 4 AM we checked and yes, it was still high. So we packed her up and stuck her in the car and went to the Emergency Room. The not-so-sympathetic doctor on call told us it was your "standard ear infection" and gave us a script for some antibiotics. We hauled hyper-heated Reagan home and she continued to melt her way through the rest of the night.

All is well that is ending well. After a dose of antibiotics and children's Motrin (aka wonder drug) I am happy (and incredibly relieved) to report that her fever is gone and she seems to be mostly her normal self. We did a happy dance - Reagan and I - today at lunch.

Okay, fine. So we're first-time parents who unnecessarily panicked when our 8 month old baby seemingly spontaneously combusted. So maybe a trip to the ER was a bit ridiculous and over-reactionary. So Reagan has a few spastic people trying to raise her in this broken world - one in which helpless cute 8 month old babies get ear infections. Yes, there are worse things. Definitely. But at 2 AM, we first timers kinda lost our minds and worried about our baby. I'm almost embarrassed to tell people how we brought Reagan to the ER in the middle of the night...for an ear infection. But we did. And honestly, I'm not so sorry - though I feel stupid.

Which is worse? Ear infections, 103.7 degree fevers, or overly protective parents? She may be stuck with that last one for many many years to come. Poor Reagan.