Momma's Intuition

This was the scene Sunday afternoon. Poor Leah had come down with another cold on Friday and by Sunday morning she was coughing, congested, and her breathing was very labored. Exactly like she was on Easter Sunday. We took her to a local clinic and all that doctor said was that she had an ear infection and prescribed us an antibiotic.

As yesterday went on, Leah's breathing seemed to be getting worse and she was exhausted. She barely talked, didn't eat, didn't play, and basically wanted to lay around on the floor or in her bed. As always, her good buddy Dodge kept her company when he could. Leah's 2 year old checkup was scheduled for Monday morning (today) and we tried to hold out until then but by 6pm last night, Momma broke down crying at Leah's condition and off to the ER we all went!

Leah received two breathing treatments, a steroid, and a chest x-ray. They discharged us around 10pm and Leah was already feeling a gazillion times better. Talking to the doctor and nurse, trying to walk away (!), etc. We sort of feel like we should have just gone to the ER in the first place since they knew exactly what to do and it worked 3 weeks ago. Live and learn. Our nurse was wonderful too - she made a glove balloon for Leah and sang the Elmo theme. ;)

Anyhow, after all this, Momma is convinced Leah is experiencing asthma. We've got the family history and all of Leah's symptoms are extremely similar to her experiences as a kid. Thankfully, at this morning's checkup, Leah's pediatrician agreed with Momma and said, "Two strikes and you're out, Leah." Basically, if a child has two wheezing episodes like this in one season (let alone within one month!), then it's usually asthma. With one wheezing episode, they don't want to diagnose asthma because it can be completely isolated to one illness and the child may never wheeze again. But, this is obviously not the case with Leah, and pretty much what Momma had suspected back at Easter.

We've got a nebulizer now and Leah will have to use it everyday, in order to try to prevent any further wheezing episodes when sick. She's got a couple silly masks that attach to it, so we're hoping to make a fun game out of it. We are just so thankful that the pediatrician agreed and gave us the tools to help her now.