Purple Dinosaur

This weekend we had to pull out the purple dinosaur. For those of you that read this blog, and don't know what this means, see this post. I debated on Friday whether or not to take her to the doctor. She was coughing all day, and a little grouchy in the evening, but otherwise ok - so I decided not to. On Saturday, she sounded as if she was wheezing, so I packed her up and took her in. They are open until noon on Saturdays on a first come, first serve basis. The doctor said that she was wheezing and her chest was pulling when she took a breath. We were given a breathing treatment there and sent home with a prescription for a steroid to give her once a day along with giving her Albuterol every 4 hours. Both of these medicines are administered using a nebulizer.

So, we got the nebulizer hooked up and began her treatment of the steroid and Albuterol. As I was sitting there trying to hold the mask up to her face, Judd began reading the warning label on the steroid.

1. Avoid letting the mist get into the eyes. Now this is next to impossible. I'm pretty sure the purple dinosaur was made for a 1 year old - mist is going everywhere when we give her one of these treatments. I'm sure it is getting into her eyes and mine. When Judd opened the package some squirted up into his eyes. So, we will all have cataracts and glaucoma.
2. Be sure to wash out the mouth after treatment to reduce the risk of thrush. I'm not sure how they expect you to wash out a 4 month old's mouth after a breathing treatment. It's not like I can hand her a glass of water and instruct her to swish and spit. But, I am terrified of thrush. (If you don't know what it is, read here.) Thrush will wreak havoc on the breastfeeding routine that we have worked very hard to create. I also think that it is absolutely disgusting that yeast could be growing in her mouth. So, I tried my best to wipe her mouth out with a wet paper towel.

So, we haven't given her a steroid treatment today. She hasn't been wheezing nearly as much, and I just hate to put things in her body that she might not need.

On a positive note, Judd got to go to a nice party last night for his friend Jimmy. I had planned to go, we even had a babysitter, but I decided to stay home with Sickie. However, today I ran, which made for 3 days this week. That is the best I have done post partum. I also went out to lunch with Erin. (mother of Ella & Emma.) This was the first time we had been out together in about 5 months - we had a nice visit.