As I right this post, I am listening to my baby cough. A lot. You don't know this, but he has a little condition called Tracheomalasia. For those of you who don't know, aaccording to Webmd.com:
Tracheomalacia is a condition in which the walls of the windpipe, called the trachea, are blocked or collapse because of weak or soft tissue. This can cause breathing difficulty.
Tracheomalacia is most common in infants. Most of the time it is a congenital defect, which means a baby is born with the condition. However, tracheomalacia may also develop in babies, especially those who are born early, who have had breathing tubes kept in place for a long time.
Tracheomalacia usually improves by the time the child is 6 to 12 months of age and disappears between 18 and 24 months of age.
Symptoms of tracheomalacia include coarse, noisy breathing (stridor), prolonged exhaling, and a croupy cough. These symptoms become worse during exertion, such as from crying, or when the child has a cold or other upper respiratory infection. Symptoms can make feeding difficult. Symptoms usually improve when the baby lies on his or her stomach.
A medical history and physical examination can indicate the possibility of tracheomalacia, but diagnosis must be confirmed by an X-ray or other tests of the trachea.
Usually tracheomalacia improves over time with no medical treatment. However, if the condition is severe, causes growth problems, or fails to improve, surgery may be necessary.
We finally got a diagnosis in April after exactly 1 year of trying to determine what was causing my Baby Bug to cough. And 5 different doctors. He had ear tubes put in, allergy testing, steroids, Upper GI, x-rays, etc. Finally, we got the Chief of Pulmonology to see us (after a bad experience with another pulmonologist, and she did a Bronchoscopy on him and determined (as we saw later on video) that his trachea is collapsing, and had extremely enlarged adenoids and tonsils, which were causing excessive mucus production, which was draining down his throat, and irritating his trachea. We got the tonsils and adenoids removed, and he was a different child. Cough, all but stopped. He started sleeping better, was happier, speech improved. We were so thankful a)that what he had wasn't serious and b)that luckily, the problem seemed to be resolved.
Until last weekend. He got the cold virus that everybody else seems to have, including everyone in this house, and the drainage began, and so did the cough. And cough he is. Up in the middle of the night, breathing treatments 5-6 times a day to keep his lungs open and fluid.
I know that we are extremely lucky to have healthy children. This is something that he will grow out of (pulmonologist said typically between ages 1-2, but his is a severe case, so it will probably be between 3-4 when his gets stronger), and it usually doesn't affect his daily life, unless he gets sick. I am just so tired of being up in the middle of the night, worrying about him, listening to him breath through the monitor. Those of you with children know what I am talking about. When your kid is sick, you worry, all the time. It has been 8 days, and nights, and the longest stretch of sleep has been 3 hours.
I really am not complaining, as much as it sounds like I am. I know that this is temporary, and that what he has isn't as severe as so many other children who are suffering. I just need to get this out there. My own personal sounding board.
So, that is why for me at least, this week has been crazy. Hubs was gone hunting last weekend, and Baby Bug got sick on Friday, so it made for a very long weekend by myself. You may have seen my tweet about it.
And, we got some MUCH NEEDED rain!! Thank you God for that! 5.53 inches where I am in 24 hours! IT was great! And then on Wed we got more! That was great too, until my ceiling had water coming down in it, because the rain was unexpected and the contractors didn't put the tarp on our house. So, looks like I will be getting some new insulation, and a fresh new coat of paint on my ceiling!!
Ok peeps, have a fabulous Friday! Thanks for letting me get all that out!
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