Long Nights

About mid September Cinderella came down with a cough. I figured she had a cold, and didn't worry too much about it. This cough was one that sounded to me, one that she would try to clear her throat and start coughing. It was a loud and disruptive cough, but not one that the Dr. seemed concerned about. She was even removed from her children's class in church one week, because she was causing too much of a disruption with her cough.

Well the cough has been pretty consistent since then. She has had other colds, that have built upon it, at times. But those pass, and the cough remains. Last week, I took her into the Dr. to have him check it again, and make sure it wasn't something serious. He didn't seem concerned. When I asked if it could be allergies, she said that was a possibility, and I could try children's Claritin, and see if it helped at all. Benadryl was another option, but not his preference. So on my way home from the Dr.'s office, I stopped by the store and bought some Claritin. That night, when we went to give her some however, we discovered that the bottom of the bottle had busted open. So that night we gave her Benadryl, and exchanged the Claritin the next day. The Benadryl seemed to help, and she slept well. The Claritin, however did nothing. About that time, both Cinderella and Guy came down with runny noses. I figured that the Claritin wasn't doing much because she maybe had a cold on top of the allergies. We tried one more night of Claritin, but still received no results.

On Friday, Cinderella's cough, changed to a loud barking one, with some wheezing. I was concerned about this, but because it was about lunch time when I really noticed the change, I didn't think we could get into the Dr. that day. I put Cinderella down for quiet time. Hoping she would maybe take a nap, and it would help her feel better. When I went in a few minutes later however, she told me she was going to throw up. So we went to the bathroom, where she coughed a few times, then told me, she wasn't going to throw up, just needed to cough a lot.

I still had some children's cold and cough, that I had purchased before that kind of medicine was pulled off the shelves for children under 6. I'm not big on using meds that are recalled. But because the main reason for the recall, as far as I understand was parents overdosing their kids, and this bottle had a written dosage for children 2-6. I figured I would risk it, and see if it helped.

Well this medication didn't do anything either. When Cinderella finished her quiet time, which unfortunately didn't include a nap, she had a low grade fever. And the cough was as prevalent as ever. I was really concerned, because I couldn't think of anything I could do for this cough. That night I asked my husband if he could give her a blessing. (Using the priesthood, which we believe is God's authority, to say a special prayer for the individual. We believe that priesthood blessings, is a way for God to speak through the person giving the blessing, to pronounce His blessings on that individual. The man giving the blessing, has to be ordained in the priesthood (given the priesthood by someone with proper authority), and has to be worthy). He called a friend who also has the priesthood to assist him, and they gave her a blessing. After the blessing she seemed to do a lot better. We gave her some more Benadryl that night, and it seemed to help, and she slept pretty good. We just took it easy and stayed home on Saturday, hoping to give her some rest. On Sunday we just went to church, but spent the rest of the day at home.

Well Sunday night as my husband and I were getting ready for bed, Cinderella came in. She had woken up, and said her ear hurt. We gave her some Motrin, and put her back to bed. She then came in one more time early in the morning, when the Motrin had worn off, hurting again.

So Monday morning, we headed to the Dr.s . Sure enough she has an ear infection. Plus the Dr. noticed her wheezing and put her on an oral hormone that is supposed to help open up her air ways and help her breath better. Yesterday it seemed to work really well. After I gave it to her, she didn't cough at all until about midnight. Today, she hasn't responded so quickly. I gave it to her at breakfast, and she is still coughing now. But we will see how she does after the week that is prescribed for the treatment.

Last night was another long night. When Cinderella started coughing again, Guy was coughing as well. Cinderella came into our room requesting a drink for Guy, because he was coughing. Daddy got up and gave both kids a drink and put them back to bed.
I however was not able to go back to sleep. For some reason, at that point, my hips wanted to scream at me, and not be comfortable no matter what position I lay in. Guy was having a hard time settling down as well.

I finally got up with him, and rocked for a little while. He cuddled up to me for a little while, and he is so small, and I don't spend time rocking with him much anymore. I kind of forgot he was as old as he is. At one point, it clicked into my mind that he didn't seem to be sucking very hard on his pacifier. And I had the thought that he might be teething. I took the pacifier from his mouth and told him to say "ah" so I could feel in his mouth and see if there were any teeth coming in. It totally took me by surprise, and reminded me how old he really is, when he opened his mouth wide and said, "Ahhhhh" . :) Well he did have a tender spot, so I asked if he had an owie in his mouth. He seemed to agree, and I put some Orajel on that spot. I asked if the owie was better, and he said "owie ber". So I gave him a dose of Tylenol and we put him back to bed. I tried to go back to bed then, but my hips still didn't like me, so I took some Tylenol myself, and once it kicked in, I was able to go back to sleep.

Maybe before too much longer we can all be better, and get the sleep we need without too much effort.