Here we go again ...

Griffin has Maysen's cold - and it got scary today. You know how an old man sounds when he's got all kinds of crap in their throat that you know they need a good hack just to get it all out? Or as we nurses would do - get out the suction and give it a good go. It just is all rattling around and sounds horrible? Well, Fin has sounded like that off and on for the last few days, but this afternoon it sounded like that every breath. He started waking himself up because it was so bad - and then when I tried to feed him at 5pm he couldn't even eat because it was inhibiting it. He was starting to cry at weird things, have rapid breathing spells, and using his tummy muscles to breathe, so I called the office and they told us to bring him in ... right then! So, Nate was on his way home from work and when he got home, we turned around and went in. The doctor who was doing the "late" clinic tonight was Dr Unger (the pediatrician who works at the clinic I used to work - and the pediatrician we left to start seeing Dr Pelinka). He was very nice and professional. He suctioned a lot of junk out of him - but his lungs were still wheezy. He said that he was sure he had RSV (respiratory virus that can be pretty serious in babies) but the treatment is pretty symptomatic. They used to treat it with inhalers (Maysen had it when he was 4mo old and used an inhaler) ... but he said now they say it's not needed. He told us to pour saline down his nose and use the suction bulb as much as we can try and keep him as clear as possible.

Tonight he's been pretty fussy on and off. He acts as though he's starving, yet you feed him and he barely eats a thing. Then he'll cry. So I wrapped him up good and tight and he's down right now. Tonight I have him in the bassinet beside me elevated on a pillow inside to keep him up.

Dr Unger said he wants Griffin to see Dr Pelinka tomorrow to follow up and so she can see how he's doing. I said "Tomorrow!?" and he said that with his history, this virus, things can turn south fast. So ... I guess we'll be going back to the doctor tomorrow. *sigh*.

If this turns out to be a bad illness, like if Griffin ends up in the hospital, I think I'm just going to take Maysen out of school until next fall. I can't jeopardize Griffins' health anymore - and that school is filled with nothing but illness right now and will be until late spring. I can't do this every couple of weeks. Our hands are all cracked with dryness due to washing and in our little 1400sq ft house with it frigid outside, we're all bound to share germs, despite our efforts.