Thursday, January 15, 2009

What is wrong with me?


All day long I see Lucy as this INCREDIBLY strong-willed, energetic force of nature (and she is all of these things). The energy this kids spends defying me almost blows my mind. It's no wonder that at bedtime she pretty much goes from gabbing/dancing to full blown snore in (hardly any exaggeration) 5 minutes flat.


So why is it that once the house is quiet and my body starts falling asleep ... I hear those apnea gasps, and the snoring, and most recently the intense fits of coughing and I start having crazy thoughts that maybe she'll actually quit breathing.


For the 2nd night in a row I've given her a cough medicine. All of these years of sinus infections, congestion and coughing and I have religiously avoided those medicines because the pediatricians stopped recommending them, and said they don't work. Last night I broke down, we were loosing way too much sleep and I thought I could tell that the cough was a spastic post nasal drip cough.


I gave it to her again tonight, after she started the intense coughing around 1/2 hour ago. I held her until she was done coughing. Now I worry, what if the coughing was important to the breathing.

Yup, maybe If I start reading Twilight again it'll take my mind off of the kid in the next room. Hmmmm


10 comments:

Melanie said...

What is wrong with you?!?!?!? You are a mom!!!! I cannot imagine if Morgan did that all the time.... No matter what you think of feel sometimes...you are an awesome momma!!!

Bokstavsbarn said...

So what if the doctors say that it doesn't work, if it helps Lucy sleep?

Holly Scheuren said...

It is so hard when your baby is coughing like that in the night. I use some OTC kids cough medicine, but the last cold my daughter had, the OTC meds just weren't working. She was coughing throughout the night and sometimes coughing so hard, she'd throw up. I begged her doctor to prescribe her cough medicine and she prescribed Tussin for kids. It has codine, which made me a little nervous, but it worked so well! Maia's coughs were few and far between and they were PRODUCTIVE coughs, too. I am so glad I pushed the Dr to prescribe something. Maia (and I) were able to get a good night's sleep, with minimal coughing.

Anonymous said...

What you wrote in your blog shows what a great mom you are. I know it's hard not to worry about things like that, but it is evident that you are doing a wonderful job. I hope Lulu can rest without the coughing fits soon. Poor little thing.

Julie (Mel's sis)

Tami Tripp said...

I give both my boys Pediacare for nasal congestion for that exact reason. Sam will cough forever at night when he has a runny nose. I think it really helps. I just give half a dose (or what I think his dose would be since they won't tell you on the bottle).

I hope she's better soon....

Christina said...

Poor Lucy, Poor Mama! Warm weather cannot come soon enough...

Jebena said...

I'll be praying for Lucy's health and sleep, in the meantime, do what you have to do for the both of you to get some sleep and rest.

And as far as worrying about being a good Mom, you don't even have to question yourself --- You Are!

Anonymous said...

There is nothing wrong with you!! There is also nothing wrong with giving a PROPER DOSE of cough medicine to a SICK child! It's the idiot parents and day care providers that gave cough medicine a bad name. They were intentionally overdosing children in an effort to quiet them and decrease the child's energy level. Don't question yourself. You are a responsible parent who knows when her child is ill and needs medication. Good luck! I hope she feels better soon :) K

Ruthanne said...

It's so hard to know what to do in those situations isn't it? My son has respiratory issues too and I completely understand. You worry when you hear their labored breathing and you worry even more when you don't. It's a scary moment with your pressed against the monitor listening for something...anything. Hope her little lungs get stronger soon and colds will just be colds.

Chris & Suzanne said...

my son coughed a lot last winter especially just as the temperature went from -30 and dry to -1 and damp. turns out that he has mild asthma. it really only bothers him this time of year. happened yesterday when the temperature shifted up. gotta love winnipeg winters. i was told to let the kid have cough or fever medicine only at night to help them rest but to try and avoid it during the day so there won't be the problems. some people are too ready to dope up their kids for no reason.