First Serious Cold. Seriously.
Colin is muddling his way through his first head cold, and it has been rough. For me at least - he doesn't seem the least bit perturbed by it. The cold hit late Saturday night with serious congestion, which woke me up at 4:45AM (when Hari, who is sick in a whole 'nother way, was getting up for golf). I was up the rest of the morning keeping an eye on Colin and trying to keep him elevated as he dozed and sniffle-snored.
Sunday I woke up at 3AM because he was having breathing trouble. Actually, Colin didn't seem troubled at all, but because he was determined to breathe through his ultra-congested nose he would periodically stop breathing for a few seconds (scaring the crap out of his mother) then draw in a big breath. Needless to say I did not get back to sleep that night. Hari was so concerned he asked if we needed to go to the emergency room. (No)
We did keep Colin home from school, though, and I worked from home for the morning, taking the afternoon off and spending most of the day in a state of delirium hoping that Colin would take a nap. (In classic baby fashion he categorically refused to sleep. He played, he watched things, he chatted, he discovered how to play with a toy, but no sleep. UGH) The pediatrician finally called me back around 6PM telling me that it sounded like a summer cold and that we're doing everything we should, which was good to hear.
We've been treating the congestion with our extremely limited arsenal: humidifier, saline nose drops, steam baths, and a bulb syringe.
The bulb syringe is a strange, horrifying, disgusting, yet effective tool. After loosening up all the "gunk" in Colin's sinus cavities with a combination of saline drops and steam we then suction everything out. I wonder if this is how the Egyptian embalmers felt, sucking the brains out through King Tut's nose!
Yesterday Colin seemed a bit better, although last night he again woke me up shortly before 4AM and decided that mom didn't need any more sleep. (I'm going to remember this when he's a teenager and wants to sleep in on Saturday morning!!!) The good news is that he is eating, and playing, and although he was taking a lot of power naps yesterday he seems to be his usual self. Hopefully that means the cold is quickly running it's course, and will soon be a thing of the past.
I know this is the first of many colds that we'll have the joy of experiencing with our son. The question is if I will survive. Currently I'm running on about 14 hours of sleep in 4 nights, wondering how long you have to be sleep deprived before you are declared legally insane.
Sunday I woke up at 3AM because he was having breathing trouble. Actually, Colin didn't seem troubled at all, but because he was determined to breathe through his ultra-congested nose he would periodically stop breathing for a few seconds (scaring the crap out of his mother) then draw in a big breath. Needless to say I did not get back to sleep that night. Hari was so concerned he asked if we needed to go to the emergency room. (No)
We did keep Colin home from school, though, and I worked from home for the morning, taking the afternoon off and spending most of the day in a state of delirium hoping that Colin would take a nap. (In classic baby fashion he categorically refused to sleep. He played, he watched things, he chatted, he discovered how to play with a toy, but no sleep. UGH) The pediatrician finally called me back around 6PM telling me that it sounded like a summer cold and that we're doing everything we should, which was good to hear.
We've been treating the congestion with our extremely limited arsenal: humidifier, saline nose drops, steam baths, and a bulb syringe.
The bulb syringe is a strange, horrifying, disgusting, yet effective tool. After loosening up all the "gunk" in Colin's sinus cavities with a combination of saline drops and steam we then suction everything out. I wonder if this is how the Egyptian embalmers felt, sucking the brains out through King Tut's nose!Yesterday Colin seemed a bit better, although last night he again woke me up shortly before 4AM and decided that mom didn't need any more sleep. (I'm going to remember this when he's a teenager and wants to sleep in on Saturday morning!!!) The good news is that he is eating, and playing, and although he was taking a lot of power naps yesterday he seems to be his usual self. Hopefully that means the cold is quickly running it's course, and will soon be a thing of the past.
I know this is the first of many colds that we'll have the joy of experiencing with our son. The question is if I will survive. Currently I'm running on about 14 hours of sleep in 4 nights, wondering how long you have to be sleep deprived before you are declared legally insane.
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