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I love Jesus Christ and devote my life to following Him. I'm madly in love with my husband jon. I'm the mother of the most perfect babies in the world. I'm a Senior Sales Associate at my beloved Anthropologie. I'm a reader, thinker, lover, believer and traveler. I'd trade in the chicago skyline for the pacific coast any day. i love a good vino. i love my books. i'm creative as creativity goes but always wanted to be a painter. i prefer letter writing over emailing. And I always try to be a kinder person.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

My very sick baby...

On Sunday, Alivia caught a bad cold. Lots and lots of boogers...and just yesterday, she developed a bad cough. Last night she woke up on more then one occasion with a whiny cry, obviously telling us that she isn't feeling well.

When she woke up this morning, she had a HORRIBLE wheezing in her lungs...almost as if she was out of breath from running. When things like this happen in a baby so young, it can be a dangerous thing. A cold in a baby can go south rather quickly, and wheezing is usually a sign of it doing just that. I called her pediatrician and the nurse recommended we come in right away. 

20 minutes later, we're at the doctors office. Its totally obvious to me that Alivia remembered EXACTLY where she was...after 4 shots last week, who would forget? The doctor took a look at her and recommended a nebulizer. A nebulizer is a little mask that goes over your nose and mouth (like an oxygen mask) and releases a vapor of water and medicine that you breath in. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well not for an 18 month old. I've never experienced such a battle trying to keep a mask on a baby. I had to sit Alivia on my lap, hold down both of her arms, while holding the mask on her face. Lets just say the struggle was so intense, by the end of the 10 minutes, Alivia was soaked in sweat and boogers...and so was I. She absolutely hated it.

Once we finished the nebulizer, the doctor came in...he immediately heard improvements and recommended we take a nebulizer home to use for a few days....every 4-6 hours :( I was dreading it...I was hoping the first time was the last time. 

Thankfully, the doctor's office was completely out of take home nebulizers. So, in its place, our doctor wrote us a prescription for an inhaler. For babies, there is a tube with a mask on the end that the inhaler gets pumped into. The prescription was for both the tube/mask and the inhaler. My doctor warned me it would be a bit expensive, but told me it would be something I could use and keep forever. He also mentioned it would come in very handy for future colds and coughs. Little did I know, I'd be $85 in the hole by the end of it all. 

So then, my poor little baby is so sick that she will have to use an inhaler for the next 4 days...every 4-6 hours. Granted, I think she'll take to the inhaler much better then she did to the nebulizer...but that doesn't make the entire thing any better. There isn't anything worse then having a sick baby. 

But I have to admit, it is nice to know that I have something in my possession that will help her feel better. Oh my poor baby :(

3 comments:

Alyssa said...

How sad!!! Poor little girl - what a traumatic week it has been. I hope she takes to this inhaler - for both your sakes.

Lindsey Lindstrom said...

THANKFULLY...she takes the inhaler much better then she took the nebulizer. In fact, she kinda likes doing it. I pump the medicine into the tube and she holds it over her mouth and nose. She already seems to be a little bit better!!

Vana said...

awww sweet baby! I was almost in tears and totally understand you...Niko has that bad cough now...It hurts to even hear it(: