The Cold That Won't Go Away

Joseph came down with his first real cold, and of course, it's breaking my heart. It's pretty much the most pathetic, pitiful thing I've ever witnessed.  Poor little snotty guy :) 

He's sporting all of the tell tale symptoms...runny raw nose, low grade fever (that has since dissipated), red-rimmed watery eyes, sleeplessness, nightime cough, etc.  No loss of appetite...but his general stuffiness is causing some struggle with the bottle.  I don't think he minds that though, b/c it just means he gets more "real" food from the spoon.  And if you haven't had the chance to catch up on the last post...HE LOVES FOOD!

We're rounding out week two of the cold that won't go away, and after a few touch bases via phone throughout the week, yesterday warranted the first sick visit to the pediatrician.  All I can say is GOOD TIMES!  Keeping a wiggly 6 month old still and quiet in order to have a rectal temperature taken, listen to their lungs, stick a popsicle stick down their throat, and the equivalent of a plunger into their ear, proved to be a little trickier than I anticipated! 

His pediatrician was concerned that there might be some fluid in his lungs, but after listening for what seemed like 10 minutes, she didn't hear anything.  We were sent home with an antibiotic which he's supposed to be starting on Friday if there's no improvement.  Not too keen on the antibiotic route, and neither was the doctor, but she seemed to think that this was bacterial vs. viral, so that would be the appropriate course of treatment.

Our daily and nightly routines have consisted of saline nose drops (that get everywhere else on Joseph's face except his nose...but hey, at least its just saline), lots of vapor rub (the smell has seeped into everything in the house), menthol baths, using the snot sucky thing (umm...not a fan, but for those of you who read my facebook message...at least I'm not sucking it out with my own mouth as one website suggested), and moving the humidifier to wherever we move Joseph.  One of my favorite highlights of the baby cold...getting my shirt used as a tissue 50 times a day as Joseph head butts me to wipe his boogers.  Again...REAL GOOD TIMES!