So, my boys have shared yet another bad cold, and Jaden caught it yesterday. Today he woke up from his nap and started coughing a bark-like (croup) cough, but this time he couldn't breathe. He was straining so hard and gasping for air so badly that he threw up a few times. I immediately called Martin and asked him to come home, all while I was deciding whether to dial 911 or drive him straight to the doctor. I called his ped. and they said to bring him in right away for a breathing treatment. Of course, on the way there he improved and seemed okay by the time we arrived (thankfully). He still was making some bad breathing sounds though, so the doctor immediately put him on a breathing treatment. I explained to her that this has happened 3 or 4 times before, but usually in the middle of the night and we've treated it with hot steam in the bathroom. She sent me home with a breathing machine on loan until he improves, along with some inhalant medication for him.
My boys' health has really been on my mind the past few months, as I've written about before. Micah has always seemed to catch colds more than normal, and it usually gets really bad starting around August. Now that we have Jaden, we are able to really tell the difference between the two boys; Jaden does not get sick even half as much as Micah (although now he does catch things from Micah now and then). So, I've really been praying about this and asking God for wisdom. His pediatrician does not seem that concerned about it; she says all kids get sick and it is common now that he is in preschool... but my "mother's intuition" still tells me to explore other reasons why.
Because I've always had this secret love of medical knowledge, I've done a lot of research. I could be way off, or I could be on the right track. I guess we'll find out soon enough. My three theories about Micah's health are:
1) Because he was prescribed antibiotics so much when he was 0-2 (for chronic ear infections which run in my family), he now has to fight off infections more because he has developed some type of "antibiotic resistance". I think maybe taking all those antibiotics (he was on them at least 10x) killed off the bad and good bacteria, so his immune system now needs to be built back up.
2) It could be seasonal allergies, as it mainly hits in the fall and spring. His sicknesses are almost always upper respiratory and start out as a runny nose which turns into other things.
3) It could be something in our environment: either the fact that we live so close to a major freeway, or the fact that we have some mold growing underneath the house. Tonight I contacted an environmental testing agency about coming out to test our home for mold spores.
In any case, we are just praying for our little boy. Praying that God will build up his little immune system and make him able to fight off sicknesses better. Praying that he will grow out of whatever this is. Praying that it doesn't turn into anything serious. And just praying for wisdom. Wisdom that God will lead us to the right conclusion as to what is causing him to get sick so much! We would appreciate your prayers too... Thankfully he is feeling better now; it is Jaden who needs to get better tonight.
Oh Jaimie! How scary! My only one that has been that sick was Emmalie when she had pneumonia, she couldn't breathe and couldn't stop coughing/vomiting, it was so scary! I will be praying for your boys, and you.
ReplyDeleteMy mil would suggest probiotics to help rebuild what the antibiotics kill off. . . i've never done it but you may want to look into if other stuff doesn't work. A second opinion isn't a bad idea either. :)
Hey jaimie...I am so sorry to hear that Jaden is sick...I would be just like you. I would look up as much info as I could to see what I could do. You will probably get advice from a ton of people, but Erica and I were talking on the way home from the O.C. and she told me she buys raw milk. I've tried it once before, but it is supposed to help restore that good bacteria. I think you could buy it at Trader Joe's or Mother's. Anyway, it would be an easy thing to add to Micah's diet. It is more expensive than regular milk, but it could help. Also, I've heard that kefir is AWESOME for that, too. Email me if you want to know more about it...not like I'm an expert...you could actually google it and get more accurate info probably. I know someone who uses it and puts in her kid's smoothies so they don't even know they're drinking it.
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