Thursday, January 21, 2010

Chest X-Ray Machine or Baby Straight Jacket?

Tyler is under the weather (and consequently so are Michael and I)! Starting last Friday (Jan. 15) Tyler developed what we thought was a minor cold and was slightly congested. It seemed less minor than previous colds he has had. On Monday he developed a slight cough and Monday night we could hear him hacking away in his crib. Of course coughs are always worse at night. When we picked Tyler up from daycare Tuesday evening his teacher said he had been having coughing episodes where he would cough repeatedly, turn red, and then cry because of all the agony. They also measured Tyler's temperature around 100 degrees (not quite a fever) all afternoon. His temperature was more normal when we measured it before bedtime, but we did witness the coughing fits and in addition Tyler vomited at the end of one fit. Apparently this is a common phenomenon with babies. So yesterday morning I took Tyler to the doctor, who said he could hear wheezing in Tyler's chest when he listened with the stethoscope. Tyler then got a chest x-ray. I put some photos (below) I found online of what an infant chest x-ray machine looks like. At first Tyler was as cool as a cucumber but the novelty wore off when the x-ray tech started fastening the straps. Tyler was quite a brave little trooper though. The x-ray did show some fluid in his lungs. The doctor prescribed antibiotics to make sure Tyler does not develop bronchitis or pneumonia. The doc thinks Tyler probably just has a really bad cold. Tyler has only vomited after coughing one more time (last night). Tyler's cough seemed to be better today and he hasn't been crying after coughing bouts so that's a good sign. We will definitely be laying low for a few days until this blows over. Normally a happy camper in general Tyler has been in good spirits and still playful, but he definitely craves some extra holding and snuggles, which we are more than happy to provide.


2 comments:

  1. We went through the same thing with Stella when she was 15 months old. Not fun. She had a partially collapsed lung...but a happy, healthy 5 year old now! Hang in there!

    Rachel

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  2. That's rough. Hope the little guy gets over it soon.

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