Friday, March 25, 2011

Mrs. Sick, Mr. Sick and the Whole Sick Family

What a stinkin' week!  The girls have had a cold since Sunday, and a pretty nasty one at that.  Poor kids!  Hailey and Brooke both have wet coughs and runny noses.  Brooke's cough is so sad, just sounds like there is a lot of stuff stuck in her chest.  So I hauled Brooke out to the doctor Tuesday, and they diagnosed her with a sinus infection and prescribed antibiotics. I was feeling good about getting her better.  Then Trevor came home with this disturbing story of a friend of a friend whose 8 month old daughter died in her sleep from pneumonia.  Probably not a great story to tell the mother of a sick 6 month old.  I brushed it off, thinking it was terrible, but they listened to Brooklyn's chest and said her lungs were clear. 

Wednesday Hailey woke up from her nap saying "I feel like I have a yawn stuck in my ear".  We blew her nose and she proceeded to cough until throwing up all over me.  I was sitting on the couch at the time and all I could think about was not getting throw up in the many cracks and creases of the couch.  I know, I'm getting thrown up on and I'm worried about my couch, nice right?  But seriously what a nightmare that would be to have to disassemble your couch to be sure that all of the puke is out of the cracks?  And the smell that would have made...ICK! Such a mom, I guess.  Wednesday night both Hailey and Brooke were coughing so hard and so often, it was sad!  We put saline spray in both girls noses, put Baby B Chest Rub on both girls chests and backs, and set them both up with vaporizers.  When Brooke fell asleep she was making a strange noise.  So Trevor and I decided she would sleep with me with a vaporizer while he slept on the couch... the pneumonia story still fresh in my mind I decided this was an excellent idea.  No one slept well Wednesday night, too worried about both kids.  I kept checking Brooke to make sure she was still breathing.  So stressful to literally fear that your kid might not wake up, I knew the nurse practitioner said she would be fine, but I was still stressed. 

Thursday morning we all were tired, but the girls seemed slightly better.  But something inside me was just thinking, what if we have another terrible night?  What if we don't have a second opinion on Brooke and Hailey looked at?  Will I have another stress filled night?  So I took the girls to the Grande Ronde Hospital ER with the help of my mom.  I was so happy when they called us back after only 5 minutes in the waiting room.  They were very thorough and we had an excellent doctor.  He evaluated each girl separately and gave me a better understanding of their colds. Brooklyn sounds so bad because she can't clear her throat, it just sits there and she coughs it up or chokes on it.  Makes sense.  Hailey has wheezing... uh oh! One chest x-ray later she is diagnosed with Restrictive Airway Disease.  She needs an inhaler every 4 hours as needed to help her cough and open those restricted airways.  Other than that, it 's just a virus and we just need to push the fluids and rest.  AWESOME! 

So today we are doing just that, and will continue to push the fluids and rest all weekend.  Poor kids.  I'm sure the Emergency Room was an over reaction, but when it comes to the health and overall well being of your children I suppose you cannot go wrong with a second opinion.  After all, I now have little fear of Brooklyn not waking up, and I actually got a little sleep last night.  I also know Hailey will probably not throw up on me again... at least for a little while. 

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