Cough, Cough, Hack, Hack Goes My 4 Year-old

My 4 year-old is sick.  He started coughing on Wednesday, by Wednesday night I could tell that he wasn't feeling well at all.  He started running a fever and by 1 in the morning I was running the nebulizer giving him a breathing treatment.  He had a fever of almost 101.  So, the meds started coming.  Thankfully, he likes medicine.

I gave him cough medicine and ibuprofen.  This was after the breathing treatment.  We call it the cloud machine, it makes it a little more enjoyable than just sitting still with a piece in your mouth breathing.  This is my child that had RSV at 3 weeks old.  It has been almost exactly 4 years since that incident landed us in the hospital. 

He was initially diagnosed with with RSV on Jan 6, 2008.  He had stopped breathing long enough for the area around his mouth to turn blue.  It wasn't very long, but it was long enough for me to call the ambulance.  We spent several hours in the ER, just to have the doctor tell me had RSV.  He sent me home with my 20 day old baby telling me to make sure that he kept breathing.  Needless to say, I was a wreck.  By the time I got to the doctor a few hours later, I had no sleep in more than 30 hours, been crying a lot, and had the hormones that go along with being postpartum working against me.  His pediatrician immediately arranged for him to be admitted to the hospital, she said we both needed it.  That he needed to be monitored and I needed to be able to sleep, knowing that he would be well taken care of.  I miss his pediatrician... she was wonderful, but we moved 1900 miles west.  He was well taken care of and discharged from the hospital the next day.

Today he is doing much better.  I know when he needs to have his breathing treatments.  I keep them handy.  I give it to him on an as needed basis.  I give it to him when he starts developing a cough.  I am still giving him allergy medicine (instead of cough medicine) and ibuprofen.  His nose is running like crazy, but the medicine seems to help.  He is still his cheerful self even when he is sick.  He just gets agitated a lot easier.

I am thankful for healthy children.  It is sad to me when they get sick.  I worry about them a lot when they get sick.  Thank goodness for cans of soup!  They love to have soup and it gives them fluid as well as nutrition.

Fever, runny nose, and cough

It seems to happen on occasion.  One child greets me in middle of the night stating, "Mommy, I can't sleep."  It is 2 am Saturday morning, and I know that when I checked a few hours ago, he was fast asleep.  It takes a few seconds to gain any composure so that I can start to think.

It is my 8 year-old making the statement.  He rarely, if ever, gets sick.  I know that it isn't a good thing.  I feel his head, he is hot.  I get up to take his temperature, the thermometer is gone.  I feel his belly, that is hot too.  For some reason, I have always checked both.  I go back to the medicine cabinet and grab out the children's acetaminophen.  After reading the label, I see that he gets 2 tsp.  I grab a medicine measuring cup thing, and measure it out.  He drinks it like a little trooper.  After about an hour, he is sounds asleep.  Me, not so lucky.  I see 3 and 4 am roll around.  I stop looking at the clock.  His fever is gone for now. 

In the morning, about 8:30 am, I tell my husband that our son is sick, and I am heading to Wal-Mart for a new thermometer and ibuprofen.  Off I go, with those two things in mind.  I get there, and I end up buying a lot more.  I get popsicles and fudgesicles as I know those are nice to have when there is a fever.  I get some soup, macaroni and cheese and peas.  He loves to have macaroni and cheese w/ tuna and peas.  That is what will be for supper.  I make my purchase and head home.

I promptly give the ibuprofen as the fever has returned.  It is 100 degrees.  During the course of the day, he gets one more dose of ibuprofen and a couple more doses of acetaminophen.  By evening, he is well, no sign of a fever and he is back to his old self.  We even go feed the ducks and go on a walk.  He takes time to play on a playground.  Thank goodness, everyone is well!

Now it is Sunday.  We were all at church.  I look over at my 3 year-old.  Nose is running, he is trying to suck it back up.  Yes, 3 year-old children, at least my children at that age, seem to find some great pleasure in trying to suck it back in.  I have my husband bring him out of the chapel, to the bathroom, to blow his nose.  He doesn't have a fever.  Chalk it up to whatever is in the air this time of the year.  He throws in a cough every now and then.  I don't know if he has a little tickle in his throat or what is going on.

Remembering the fever from yesterday very well, I grab the ibuprofen.  Better safe than sorry.  I ask him if he wants medicine.  He loves medicine, so I know the answer.  He wants squirt medicine.  Meaning, the medicine that is administered orally and squirts out of a syringe looking thing.  I explain that we don't have that, he will just have to drink it.  Just as happily, he drinks it out of the medicine cup.  He seems to be doing better now.

It is hard to see the children under the weather.   I always feel bad for them.  Especially when they don't know exactly how to explain what is going on.  It is hard to guess what the best plan of action is, but I do what I think will help them the most.  Hopefully by this evening, he will be up to feeding the ducks and going on a little walk.  Oh, and by the way, he has been to sleep by 10:30 the past 2 nights.  The sleep readjustment schedule seems to be working pretty well!