Wow! It has been rough couple of days, preceded by a few tough weeks. I haven't had the desire or want to blog because I have stayed so stressed out over Little Miss. As a mother, I will start by saying that the statement, "I wish I could take it for you," is completely true! I would take the flu times four to keep from seeing her with a stuffy nose. But then, I would just panic that she would catch it and I would be quarantined from her. So basically, I just wish we could avoid sickness all together. However, my job prevents that: I work in one of the "germiest" fields, and she comes to daycare with me. So, we will tough through and hopefully her immune system becomes tougher than Fort Knox, like mine. I usually manage to avoid most of what goes around at work. Knock on wood.
This all began about a month ago. I noticed that her nose was a little stuffy. It did not seem worse at night and it did not cause her trouble while eating. But, as a new mother, I wasn't playing around with anything that concerned her breathing. We made a visit to the pediatrician. She assured me it was nothing to worry about, just try running a humidifier at night. I stopped to pick up one on the way home. We tried this for a few nights. I did not see any change. Now, it was time to go back to work. I was reluctant to think about what would happen when she was introduced to all the germs at daycare. But, I know that it is now or later. I was hoping that by breastfeeding, my immunities would boost her up and protect her.
At first, things seemed to be going smoothly. However by the middle of her second week, she started to become more congested. We had our Two Month appointment in a little over a week, so I tried to push through. I was 90% sure a trip to the doctor would have resulted in nothing but "keep doing what you are doing. It will pass." So, I decided to try a few new things. We had been using the bulb syringe, but I had read that saline will help to break up congestion. After a visit to the Walmart, I was armed with saline, vapor bath, and baby Vicks. I just knew this was going to bring her some relief!
She has never been a fan of the bulb syringe, but she loathes the saline drops. It is like wrestling a crocodile to suction her nose with them. She screams bloody murder, which only makes her suck the snot farther back. The vapor rub and vapor bath were recommended for three months and older. I decided a few days wouldn't make that much of a difference and tried it anyway. The baby Vicks caused her to break out on her chest. I am pretty sure that is just because of her sensitive skin, so we resorted to rubbing it on the outside of her jammies. Also, the whole "bottom of the feet" trick that everyone swears by, did nothing. She loves baths, but I didn't see any benefit from the vapor bath either.
We were still a few days away from our scheduled visit, but I couldn't take anymore. None of my home remedies were working. She wasn't improving, and now it was beginning to take a toll on her appetite. We got a late appointment and headed to the pediatrician after school. Haddie had not been coughing, but she checked her lungs. They sounded perfectly clear. Apparently, it was all just in her head. When I told the pediatrician we had started daycare, she chuckled and said she was going to check her for RSV. I thought this wasn't a concern, but we received a faint positive. I was shocked. No cough. No fever. The pediatrician seemed to think she was on the downhill slope of it since it was a faint positive. "Keep doing what you are doing. It will pass." Great. She said to watch for fever or cough. Otherwise, there wasn't much more they could do.
Let me take this time to explain my feelings on medicine. I guess you could call me a little "crispy", not "crunchy," when it comes to medicine. I am not completely against antibiotics and only use natural, holistic and home remedies at the first sign of a booger, but I also know that babies and children tend to be over-medicated. Up until this point, I didn't want her to take anything. Our bodies are made to fight things off. But after seeing her struggle so long, I was beginning to want some help of the prescription kind. Needless to say, I was becoming a little frustrated that she was only getting worse. We came home again and kept our routine going: Humidifier, Suction, Vapor Bath, Vapor Rub, Elevated Bed, Steamy Bathroom. Still no improvement.
A few days before her Two Month appointment, she began spitting up again. The Zantac had been helping tremendously, but now here it was again. Upon closer inspection, I noticed there was quite a bit of mucus in it. Apparently, her drainage only goes back, down her throat. I guess I should be positive that I am less likely to have a snot-nosed child, but instead she will just have a belly full of drainage. Fabulous. I tried and tried to suck the snot out to prevent her from swallowing it. No matter what I tried, only tiny amounts would come out. I could hear it rattling in there, I just couldn't get it. Her appetite only decreased. I was beginning to wonder if maybe she had developed an ear infection from the fluid settling in her ears.
Finally, it was time for our scheduled, Two Month appointment. Once again, ears and lungs look fine. I tried to be positive that it wasn't more, but I was still frustrated she wasn't improving. She got her first round of vaccinations, and we returned home to start our Christmas Break. I somewhat expected her to get sicker over the weekend with the help of the shots. To my surprise, she was fine. Never even ran a fever. Fast forward a few days: Here comes the cough. It starts as just a little light cough. Nothing major. I am trying my hardest not to be the overly paranoid mother at the doctor's office every other week, but I can only handle so much. Like I said, I don't mess around when it comes to her breathing. I took note of when and how often she coughed. It only got worse. She still had only a little appetite and spit up what she did drink.
The final straw came last Friday. The night before, she was a little whiney. She had become hoarse from all the coughing. During her bedtime bottle, she started whimpering. It was a pitiful sound. She just looked at me for help. I had decided then I was most likely making an appointment. Friday morning, she woke up with matted eyes. As I was feeding her the first bottle of the day, she began to gag. This time she threw up. Not spit up. The whole deal. Covered me and her. That's it. I called to schedule the appointment. They seemed to try discourage me from coming because there wasn't much they could do. I know this, but at the same time, she is much too young to be this sick! They squeeze us in. This time the diagnosis is double ear infection. Lungs are still clear. We are finally given antibiotics.
Like I said, part of me is elated for her to finally have some help, the other part dreads her starting them out so young. We returned home. I have a some hope she will feel better soon. Over the weekend, her cough only worsens. It breaks my heart to see her tiny body draw up and her face turn red each time. It has to be exhausting. I am scared to death that the cold will settle in her lungs. I just can't see how she can cough so much if her lungs are fine. I started sleeping in her room at night. I had ordered a product called the Nosefrida. It is an interesting, somewhat disgusting way to "suck" out snot. Literally. Since we have been using the Nosefrida, I have noticed I can get much more out. She also doesn't scream her head off. So, I think it is definitely more effective than the bulb syringe. After suggestions from a few friends, we also started using a nebulizer with saline. Much easier than squirting saline up her nose. Between the nebulizer and Nosefrida, we were making some ground.
Monday morning brought a two hour coughing fit. Guess where we went. Yep. If you have lost count of how many trips to the doctor, so have I. I am terrified of it moving to her lungs and I don't want to end up in the hospital. I am trying to be proactive, instead of just waiting for it to happen. Our regualr pediatrician was out, so we saw a new doctor. Once again, after five minutes of listening, he swore her lungs are fine. Her cough is just from drainage. Ok. She was prescribed a short run of Prednisone. If there was any inflammation, maybe this would help. I will say she only got two doses of this. I did not notice any improvement, and it made her wild and hungry. She was only prescribed three doses, so we skipped the last one this morning.
I did not intend for this post to be so long. So much has happened on our road to recovery. She is still coughing. I'm still sleeping in her floor. Her congestion has improved tremendously, but we can't shake this darn cough. She is eating much better, but still occasionally throws up mucus. I am more than ready for her to be well. I must say she has been a champ! We are so blessed with a happy baby. She has smiled through it all. Our Christmas Break has been filled with snot and trips to the doctor, but I am glad that I could devote 100% of my time to her and not worry about missing work. Hopefully, we are on the downhill slope of this. Thanks for stopping by!
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