RSV

Poor Isaac appears to have RSV - which is a respiratory virus, so he's coughing up wet phelgmy coughs, is off his food, and is generally unhappy. But the kicker is that the RSV has exposed a latent Asthma in him... so he's also got a wheeze. We got a nebulizer and some albueterol to help him.

The Neb is an air compressor shaped like a Penguin, and it bubbles the liquid albuterol into a fine mist which he breathes in through a tube we hold down near his nose - we don't have him in a face mask or anything.

We were so worried about him yesterday - he's not sleeping very well, and is so crabby, and around 10pm he got into a coughing fit that wound up with him puking a bit. We got all packed up for the emergency room, when our pediatrician on-call returned our page. Turns out, with RSV, there's really not much they can do at the hospital that's different than what you can do at home. They'd apply the albuterol, and maybe give him some extra oxygen, but there's no magic they can do that is any better than the TLC we can give.

As if on cue, Isaac started smiling and laughing. And he did sleep pretty well in the night. Today, he's still sad and grumpy and doesn't want to be put down, but his rattle does seem to be getting better. We're still nebulizing him. And I finally remembered the "Car Seat trick" for keeping him napping, since he has woken up every 15 minutes during naptime. But pop him in the seat, keep an eye on him, and when he stirs, just rock the seat again, and he stays down. I'm into my second hour of his nap now, and am pretty happy he's getting this rest.

Bella has the cough too - but it's more of a mild, dry one.

It's such a cold day, we're warming ourselves in front of Mr Rogers with no intention of going out again.