Too sick or not sick enough?

Trying to decide whether your kid is sick enough to go to the doctor or not is frustrating. On the one hand, who cares if you go too often if you never miss a bad illness because of it. On the other hand, if you have to wake them up, stress them out, expose them to the germs at the pediatrician's office, and the doctor stops thinking you are usually correct when you call about a sick child, is that worth it?

I am stuck today with a doctor appointment I made this morning based on the night and the morning behaviors. I am taking two of three to the doctor because I was certain this morning they had bronchitis and were getting worse. Strangely, as the day wears on, they seem to be getting better. Naturally, I know that everyone feels better mid day than they do in the evenings and early morning but do you base your decision on the worst time of day or the best? Because B didn't eat breakfast. That never happens. When B and J cough they are so full of phlegm I wonder how they are breathing. They are, in fact, sicker than I have ever seen them. But what does that mean without a fever? Not much. How do you know when you cross the line to needing medical help?

And why do I care what the doctor thinks? Because I have this drive to be respected by all doctors for some reason. Veterinarians included. I do not want to be the over hyper mom who calls all the time, I want to be the mom who, when she calls, the dr thinks to himself, this must be important because she is usually right on the mark about her kids. I don't know where this strange phenomenon came from, me needing them to respect me and think I'm a smart diagnostician. Who the heck cares? Isn't it better to go when you don't need to go than not go when you should have? Of course.

So how do I stop sitting here stressing about going in there with two probably healthy boys who may become scared or screamy just because I'm taking them there? And when I know I'm already on the brink of full on faint exhaustion levels I'm adding to my load by carrying, loading, unloading, entertaining and holding down two wiggly toddlers. What do I do?

I guess I just stinking go.