Cough! Hack! Achoo! (or... We've Got a Pill For That!)

A week and a half or so ago, I thought we were about all better, but then I discovered I was wrong. This winter was pretty brutal and we suffered our fair share of health issues. So when spring came, I was so full of hope... but just two weeks in, we got hammered with more sickness. Boo!

I shouldn't complain too much, at least we're not suffering with our ailments under 4 feet of snow! But since the start of April, it feels like there's been more coughing than talking and sleeping, combined here! It started during the first week of April, when Emma broke out a bad case of hives, two days in a row. The allergist determined that it was her seasonal allergies kicking it into high gear, and they put her on allergy meds twice a day. The hives haven't been back since.

But just as the hives were leaving, an annoying cough settled in her chest, and in Dakota's as well. They felt miserable for the rest of that week. And I started feeling miserable due to lack of sleep at night. (Since having kids, I'm a super light sleeper.) Then of course, as fate would have it, Ashlyn and I came down with the same bad chest cold one week later, continuing the sleepless, cough-filled nights.

That week, I also checked back in with Emma's allergist, who thought her cough was possibly being made worse by her allergies, so they put her on a nose spray once a day, in addition to the allergy meds. As I'm sure you can imagine, she LOVED that!

But wait, it gets better... Last week Emma was complaining on and off that her ear was hurting. I thought, sweet! Now we've got an ear infection to deal with on top of everything else! One particular night it was really bothering her, so I decided I'd make an appointment with the doctor in the morning, but was dreading the thought of putting her on antibiotics on top of the other stuff she was already on. But the next morning she woke up and said her ear didn't hurt anymore. It was all better! Yea! Except... Sunday morning (3 days later) I noticed lots of dried, light brown spots all along the top of her sheet. She had been hiding it and didn't want us to see it. When I saw it I asked her what it was from, and she said there had been stuff coming out of her ear earlier in the week and she had been trying to stop it. My thoughts immediately went to a ruptured ear drum, which would explain the fluid leaking from her ear onto her sheets, and would also explain her suddenly cured ear ache. (Fluid gone=no more pressure) Realizing that a ruptured ear drum could cause big problems, I took her to a weekend clinic, where we spent more than 2 hours practicing the art of patience.

When we FINALLY saw a doctor, she said Emma's ear looked fine--a little bit of fluid, but no infection. And no sign of a tear in the ear drum. So that's still kind of a mystery. But what she did express concern about was Emma's persistent cough. (That cough has LOVED our family and has not wanted to leave.) The doctor said she heard a slight wheeze in Emma's chest, and combined with me telling her Emma had been up ALL night again coughing, led her to the diagnosis of possible asthma. It's not an official diagnosis, but it was a strong enough suspicion to start Emma on breathing treatments each night before bed. (In addition to the other meds.) The poor kid!

The good news is the breathing treatments seem to be helping, and she's now spending her nights sleeping instead of coughing. And I'm finally starting to get a little more sleep too! Woo-hoo! We're now wrapping up the last of our coughing just in time for my allergies to start. May was a terrible month for me last year, with lots of sneezing and eyes so itchy I just wanted to claw them out! Guess what started again as I played with the kids outside today!

I remember many years where I had no reason to see a doctor, except for the annual school physical or something lame like that. I so wish for those days again. And more sleep--I wish for more of that again too.