You'd think with one asthmatic kid, I would know when a second one is having an attack.
But Oz's asthma seems completely different. I feel like I'm learning asthma all over again. All the doubting and denial, the wondering if I'm overreacting...it's all so exciting and new again. And I don't mean that in a good way.
Tonight, as with many nights before, Oz was very fussy at bedtime. He wasn't coughing or wheezing as far as I could tell, but he got really whiney and cranky when I put him to bed. You'd think that was just a normal two-year-old thing, but it's not something he habitually does. Usually, he'll just happily climb out of bed and silently find something better to do. (I've found him playing with the glider in the nursery, "reading" in my bed, etc.) He doesn't usually CRY.
When I got into his bed to console him, he was grunting again. When I looked at his belly, it looked like he was retracting a bit. Hard to say - I'm no expert on retractions. But it looked like the skin was sucking in between his ribs a bit. And his breathing was definitely labored.
I wasn't sure...I don't always trust myself when it comes to my kids' asthma. After all, I didn't go to medical school. But even though I half-doubted what I was seeing - I mean, he's TWO, who's to say he's not going to start suddenly crying at bed time - I got out the albuterol MDI and Aerochamber.
Sure enough, he was breathing more comfortably within minutes...and sound asleep.
Guess I'll be calling the pediatric pulmonologist tomorrow.
1 comment:
Hope the call to the pp was helpful.
At our house, grunting is definitely one of Zane's symptoms once we're fully into an episode. The last time he was grunting with every breath we, of course, ended up in the ER. It was the first time we were ever taken there via squad from the doctor's office, though. Yuck.
I don't know what Oz's typical symptoms are, but Zane isn't a wheezer. He's a cougher and a retractor. He also shows a lot of effort in the muscles of his neck and throat with rapid breathing.
For me, it's almost always a hard call, though. I'm with you...you'd think I'd totally have it down by now, but it just seems tricky some days.
We're all doing the best we can. Good luck!
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