Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Secondary Pneumonia and Up and Down Emotions

It seems like most everyone I know is sick these days, adults and children included, so when Ari woke up one day with a barking cough, I wasn't surprised when the doctor told us it was croup again. Only this time, he didn't want to take his croup medication (the steroids they prescribed him to reduce inflammation in his lungs) and his cough lingered. We tried everything to get that medication into him:
  • "Ari, if you take your medicine you get a cookie!" "NO MEDICINE!" He screamed
  • We attempted to force feed it to him. This resulted in him wearing his medicine on his shirt and all over his face. It was bright pink and slimy, not a good luck. When we force fed him Children's Advil, he was purple-faced; also unattractive.
  • Finally, Wil figured out that the only way to get him to take his medicine was to mix it in chocolate milk. This worked out well.
Unfortunately, Ari wasn't getting better. His cough persisted as did his 102 fever. He was also noticeably lethargic. We were really concerned about him and worried about him transmitting his virus to Samara as well, so Wil took him back to the doctor while I stayed with the baby. He was diagnosed with Secondary Pneumonia, placed on antibiotics and told to rest. I wish I was
there, because I would have said "Have you met my son? He doesn't stop, let alone rest."

Now Samara is congested, spitting up and coughing. We're on our way back to the pediatrician, fun times!

In other news, the transition to having two kids has been challenging, and after crying multiple times every day out of frustration and emotional exhaustion I've made an appointment with a therapist who specializes in Postpartum issues.

Wish me luck with it all! How did you adjust to having two kids?

8 comments:

  1. In ALL honesty, I haven't yet. Please let me know what works. Every time I just have to deal with ONE I'm like, ok this is easy. But when they both are fussing or one wakes the other it's like hell and I can't do it. >:(

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  2. I have found this winter unbeleiveably bad. everyone is sick, morale is so low. i am preg now and have never felt so down, in my previous two preg I was pretty positive. On the plus side, feb is almost over. Do you have a maple syrop season in new york state or are you too far south....seriously, the fact that Sugar shack (or cabane a sucre) season is coming and with that massive amounts of pancakes is about all i have to keep me going these days.....

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  3. Can he take an inhaled steroid? We use a nebulizer and honestly, she's so used to it, that she takes it without hesitation. She actually ASKS for a treatment. We read stories while we're using it, so that helps, and there's no yucky taste.

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  4. Cordy- I keep thinking how "easy" it is to have one kid. Now there's two and I'm so overwhelmed! You're my hero, woman. I don't know how you do it.

    Sara- You're so right! This winter has been brutal! I've been so depressed due to the lack of sunlight, raging hormones (from pregnancy) and just feeling overwhelmed. We don't (to my knowledge) have a maple syrup season, but I love pancakes! Hope you're feeling better! YAY for kiddo #3!

    Statia- That's a great idea! Can you get a nebulizer over the counter?

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  5. No, ask your doctor about getting one. You have to have an rx for it, and you have to buy the neb (usually covered through insurance), but they're a godsend to have.

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  6. ok, i seem obsessed with maple syrup but it brings spring...and that is what i need. I found this one that is apparently 40m outside of NYC, they have a maplefest at the end of march

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  7. sorry, this one. http://www.niesesmaplefarm.com/

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