No improvement

But your comments did cheer me up mightily. I am so pleased that my first three commenters have full faith that I would only walk away from the baby for a couple of minutes. Folks, I have to do that all the time. Let me give you an image of yesterday evening through to this morning:

8:15 show guests out the door
8:17 in bed with fusspot (I had already changed her for bed, I figured I'd brush teeth etc. later)
9:20 she's asleep, I make my escape
9:26 she's awake - I nurse her again, fall asleep
11:30 I wake up, she's asleep, sneak out to start housework
11:35 she wakes up, I return to bed
2:20 she wakes up, I nurse her
4:05 I wake up, sit bolt upright because I've just remembered that the leftovers from dinner are still out and since that's our meal plan for the week I can't let it go bed
4:06 fusspot wakes up, I nurse her
4:20 I am over this. Move fusspot to crib. Start dishes. Fusspot commences screaming bloody murder.
4:45 fusspot still screaming - move her to high chair. Definitely not separation anxiety, she is even more pissed to have me around. Try sling, no luck.
4:20-5:15 Put away food, dishes, brush teeth, hang laundry which had been sitting for hours. Fusspot screams non-stop.
5:16 return to bed, start nursing her again
6:55 she wakes up again, contemplate getting her up so I can be first in line to drop her at daycare when it opens at 8 am but instead lie back down
9:30 wake up when the fusspot pinches me on the breast. She proceeds to scream for 15 minutes while I change her, get her dressed, make her bottles for the day and get ready.
10:01 Drop her at daycare. She smiles and grins ... and then commences screaming again.

Which is all to say that I was hardly talking about walking away for a short break. In each of the past three nights I have had to leave my baby to scream herself hoarse for the better part of an hour. I feel like I am going mad.

And honestly, I'm worried that something is really wrong. She has no fever, her appetite is fine, she's not arching her back particularly much (a standard sign of pain) or pulling on her ears or favoring either side of her body. There is oddles of nasty green snot dripping from her nose, but it's been that way since September. Those are all good signs that nothing is seriously wrong and yet I don't feel reassured. Nor do I think that I can get a doctor her to test her white blood cell count or do a full body examine. I mean, the last two times we were at the doctors they didn't even take a medical history of the child. My favorite daycare teacher promised to call in the next hour and give me her evaluation. Until then, I'll be taking a long, hot shower and pretending I'm not actually supposed to be at work right now.

Update: The good doctor called in a prescription for something or other (my foreign language skills often falter when it comes to drugs) and I can pick it up later today. He will not be in the office until tomorrow but happily diagnosed the fusspot with a common cold and attendant ear pain over the phone. I do so hope he is right.