Breathing A Little Easier

We all are actually. This morning John is still a little congested but alert, smiley and active. Yesterday however wasn't the case for us and scared both Joy and myself.

We had been giving John his breathing treatments every 3-4 hours. Yesterday morning we woke up to an inactive, quiet little boy whose color wasn't good and was obviously working to breathe. By working to breathe, I am talking about being able to see his ribs move in and out and his shoulders rise and fall with every breath. We then gave him another breathing treatment which he didn't respond to very much. We then felt like we had to get him to either the clinic or the ER. The ER wasn't a very appealing choice for us (yes, even Dr's make the ER a last resort) and the clinic was to open in about an hour so we opted to continue nasal suction, breathing treatment and steam until clinic opened. (I might add here that if we had been looking at a couple of hours or more wait time for the clinic to open, we would have gone to the ER - so I am not anti-ER; you just have to weigh your options).

Joy took John to the clinic to meet one of her partners (Joy doesn't see her own kids for medical care unless it is simple). To our surprise, his oxygen level was 97-98% and his ears were clear. So that gave us hope that he was responding more than we thought and renewed our confidence to take him back home and keep doing what we were doing with the added help of an aerosol chamber and an inhaler for us to use when we are out in the car and don't have access to the breathing machine.

I also wanted to say a word about the bulb syringe. I realize the ones you buy in the store are wimpy and aren't efficient at doing the job. The one we use is the same bulb syringe that is used at deliveries at the hospital which are not found on the market. But can usually be purchased through your pediatrician or hospital. This syringe still isn't able to get the deepest phlegm but it gets most of it. We use ours pretty regular during these times, especially before he takes a bottle or nurses.



Also, I wanted to thank each one of you for stopping by to check on John. The blogging community has become such a part of our life and it is good to have communication with people who are or have walked in your shoes. Our little situation may seem trivial to a lot of you but I this situation opened our eyes a little bit more as to what others face on a regular basis and made us a little more empathetic. We feel fortunate and blessed that we have not had the serious issues that I read about on here which makes us hard to relate at times but know that our thoughts and prayers are with you in your endeavor to provide for your little ones.