Starting on Saturday Weston started to have a building cough. The kind that makes you want to spit phlegm out for him because it's so loose and junky. No runny nose, no fever, taking good bottles...so for the first 3 days I sent him to school and waited for him to declare himself. Each day I called to check on him at lunch, and he was doing fine. Wednesday, however, I had a Urology appointment and was sitting in a dead zone when the school called me to tell me Weston had had 2 episodes of diarrhea and vomited once- not because of coughing (and still no fever). When I finally got the messages I freaked out a little and ran around the corner to the Peds clinic to get a second opinion. 
The consensus was that I should bring him in to Twilight clinic to have him checked out.
This may sound crazy, but being a doctor mommy I actually refuse to even lay a stethoscope on my baby boy because I don't want to be paranoid and start doing it all the time. So, I went directly to school, picked Weston up...he was a little fussy, but fell asleep quickly in the carseat, and came back to the clinic. When we got to the waiting room he took about 4.5 ounces of his usual 6 oz bottle and it took forever to get that much in him...but he was smiling and cooing at the nurses that walked by. I waited for the vomiting and diarrhea and there were none to speak of. As we got back to a room Weston weighed in at 12lbs 7oz, and his temp was only 99.1 rectal. Once the attending had taken a look and a listen to him she decided he didn't even need to be tested for flu (because no fevers) or RSV (because no wheezing), and his ears looked good (from what she could see). So, I was reassured and we went on our merry way with this big, yucky cough. I just didn't want to feel like I was blowing off his "cold" and have him be sicker than I thought, and I didn't want to be a freak about every little symptom.
The next morning he was eating better, still no vomiting or diarrhea, and no fevers...so Weston went back to school...pretty much every time I go there I hear another kiddo with the same junky cough (so I guess they are all sharing their germs appropriately). And I thought my diligent breastmilk pumping was going to keep Weston from getting sick - WRONG! But just maybe it was what kept him from getting a big fever with all this. ...now I'm just waiting for the cough to go away (it's usually the last symptom to leave when kids get a cough/cold). All the while he's happy between the coughs...so I guess I can't complain.
The consensus was that I should bring him in to Twilight clinic to have him checked out.This may sound crazy, but being a doctor mommy I actually refuse to even lay a stethoscope on my baby boy because I don't want to be paranoid and start doing it all the time. So, I went directly to school, picked Weston up...he was a little fussy, but fell asleep quickly in the carseat, and came back to the clinic. When we got to the waiting room he took about 4.5 ounces of his usual 6 oz bottle and it took forever to get that much in him...but he was smiling and cooing at the nurses that walked by. I waited for the vomiting and diarrhea and there were none to speak of. As we got back to a room Weston weighed in at 12lbs 7oz, and his temp was only 99.1 rectal. Once the attending had taken a look and a listen to him she decided he didn't even need to be tested for flu (because no fevers) or RSV (because no wheezing), and his ears looked good (from what she could see). So, I was reassured and we went on our merry way with this big, yucky cough. I just didn't want to feel like I was blowing off his "cold" and have him be sicker than I thought, and I didn't want to be a freak about every little symptom.
The next morning he was eating better, still no vomiting or diarrhea, and no fevers...so Weston went back to school...pretty much every time I go there I hear another kiddo with the same junky cough (so I guess they are all sharing their germs appropriately). And I thought my diligent breastmilk pumping was going to keep Weston from getting sick - WRONG! But just maybe it was what kept him from getting a big fever with all this. ...now I'm just waiting for the cough to go away (it's usually the last symptom to leave when kids get a cough/cold). All the while he's happy between the coughs...so I guess I can't complain.
There have been times when I've started to think...with all this nursing, shouldn't this child (Aiden) be sick a lot less. Of course, we're finding out more and more of it is allergies, but he still picks things up from others very easily. BUT when I start to do that, I remind myself that the breastmilk is still very likely preventing him from getting sicker than he already is/was. And perhaps if he didn't nurse, his allergies and other stuff would be much worse than it is...
ReplyDeleteGlad there was nothing seriously wrong with the little guy. Hope he's all better by now! :)