Allie's 2 month well baby visit

She weighed in at 11 lbs 8.5 oz and is now 23 inches long. She's a little shorter and chubbier than Andrew was at this age. She didn't get any shots because she's still sick. Her ped is getting concerned about how long it's taking her to get better. She isn't as sick as the day we took her to the ER, but she's still so congested and she's still a little wheezy in her lungs. Her doctor gave her an oral steroid to give her for 5 days to see if that will help - I'm hoping it will finally kick this thing out the door. She's been sick for 5 weeks! She gave her some ointment for her goopy eyes too, and I'm still doing the nebs every 4 hours. My poor little druggie baby. Oh and her doc re-did the RSV test today too - it came back negative when she did it a couple weeks ago but she has all the symptoms of it I guess. She said that if this goes on much longer she'll have to test her for cystic fibrosis and a couple other things, but she doesn't think it's too likely Allie has anything like that because she's doing so well otherwise.

I was tempted to cancel her appointment today because we were just there and I was pretty sure her doctor would want to hold off on the shots, and I just didn't feel like going anywhere because I was having a crappy day, but I'm glad I took her in anyways. I've been so down today because it's the anniversary of my miscarriage, and now all this. I'm so stressed out from all the worry about Allie being sick, and having to build my life around what time I need to do her next neb treatment, and now I've got 2 doses of medicine to add to it and the ointment to put in her eyes 3 times a day on top of it. And now I have the possibility that there could be something bigger wrong with her hanging over me. I just want my poor baby to be healthy! She's been sick for over half of her life - I've had her in to the clinic so many times I've lost track.

Did you ask her about trying the pulmicort neb? If she is on oral steroids she wouldn't need it, but after the steroids are done it might be helpful.
CF is a genetic disease, does anyone in your family have it? most kids with that have a hard time growing, and Allie seems like she is growing pretty well, I wouldn't panic about anything yet.


ETA: I'm still brain storming for you...

You can try patting her on her chest while you are doing her nebs, we call that chest percussion therapy, it helps keep the stuff in her lungs loose and easier to cough up.

Also, some kids don't respond to Albuterol very well, there is another med out there called Xopenex, it does the exact same thing, but some kids respond to that better. It might be worth a try.

Ugh. I wish she would get better for you.

This post has been edited by PrairieMom on Apr 21 2007, 05:42 AM

I did ask about the pulmicort, and her doctor didn't want to do that because she doesn't want her on a steroid for more than a few days. If this doesn't help I can ask about the other drug you mentioned - she seemed to be doing so well with the Albuterol at first, so I don't know what's going on.

No one in my family has ever had CF that I know of, and you're right she is growing well and developing just fine. Her ped did say she didn't think she would have it but I suppose she has to do the test to rule it out if she keeps this up. Thanks for all the advice Tara I really appreciate it. I'll try patting her chest like you said while I do the neb and see if that does anything.

sara!!

so sorry that Allie is having a tough time, but I'm sure its nothing serious. You must be so frustrated!!!

Try to take it easy, here are hugs for you, Andrew, and baby Allie! Feel better soon!!

Just a thought - my girlfriend's daughter sounds EXACTLY like Allie - same symptoms, started responding to things and then stopped, etc....they tested her for CF as well - EVERYTHING they tested for was negative - as it turned out in the end they found out she was refluxing and aspirating into her lungs............Just a thought - you may want to look into it - she showed none of the other classic signs of reflux cause it wasn't coming up and out - just going straight into her lungs - caused her alot and I mean alot of breathing problems - in and out of the hospital, etc. etc.....check into it - there are tests they can do to see EXACTLY where the formula is going after she drinks it....

Good luck and KUP, I know what it is like having a tiny baby that seems like they are sick ALL the time - Dylan was like that for the first 6-8 weeks.....

Just a thought - my girlfriend's daughter sounds EXACTLY like Allie - same symptoms, started responding to things and then stopped, etc....they tested her for CF as well - EVERYTHING they tested for was negative - as it turned out in the end they found out she was refluxing and aspirating into her lungs............Just a thought - you may want to look into it - she showed none of the other classic signs of reflux cause it wasn't coming up and out - just going straight into her lungs - caused her alot and I mean alot of breathing problems - in and out of the hospital, etc. etc.....check into it - there are tests they can do to see EXACTLY where the formula is going after she drinks it....

Good luck and KUP, I know what it is like having a tiny baby that seems like they are sick ALL the time - Dylan was like that for the first 6-8 weeks.....

Hmm that's a thought. I might have to ask about that. This all did start as a cold that she caught from her big brother though. I've actually wondered if the reason this all came back is because of the eucalyptus oil that she choked on (I don't know if you saw my thread on that... I accidentally gave her eucalyptus oil instead of gripe water and she choked on it and probably aspirated some of it.) Her doctor checked her out a couple days after that had happened and said she was ok, but this had all gone away until the day after that incident, and it seems pretty coincidental to me. But I guess it could be anything... if she's not better by the time she's done with this steroid (it's for 5 days) then I'm going to have a lot of things to ask the ped about.

I don't have any advice, just some hugs and get well vibes for Allie!

I can only imagine how worried, frustrated, and tired you must be. So here's some hugs for you too!

Make a list - and just keep taking her back as hard as it is - that is what I did with Dylan - just keep going back and finally we got some results..... KUP