Baby's First Bronchiolitis

My little Jack is sick.
It started with the sniffles on Saturday, and was a full blown hacking cough, red eye'd, 102.8 degree fever by Sunday afternoon. I brought him to see Dr. McDreamy on Monday who was concerned with both the fever, and at how fast it seem to hit him - especially since he didn't "catch" it from any of us. Dr. McD is NOT an antibiotic pusher, which I appreciate. However....he wanted to give him some to be on the safe side, and I was fine with that. We left with instructions to have him sleep sitting up, and to call today if I felt like he had gotten worse. So last night, I slept on the couch downstairs so that Jack could sleep in his bouncy seat right next to me. As of this morning, he was officially "worse." Really grainy breathing....crying....I know...babies cry....but not this one! He fusses, but doesn't out and out *cry* as a general rule. He just seemed really sick to me. He sounded horrible. His breathing, his voice.......and he just wasn't himself.

I called to get Jack back in to McDreamy's today, and wouldn't you know it - he was booked solid. This angered me as I was under the impression that my children were his top priority in life. Anyway, I ended up bringing him to a different pediatrician in the same group. She was nice. Not as Dreamy as McDreamy, but what can you do? We can't have it all people, we can't have it all. She was glad I brought him in as his illness had definitely spread to his chest. She gave him a breathing treatment in the office, and sent us off with a prescription for a nebulizer machine and albuteral. We are to give Jack these 5 minute breathing treatments every 4 hours today, every 6 hours tomorrow, and so on....for the next 5 days or until he gets completely better.

It's scary, you know? This is my third child and seeing him sick like this (you know....something beyond a cold....requiring antibiotics and a breathing machine thing....) scares me to death. I know that he'll be fine. He's a big, healthy boy. But every time he coughs I feel like my heart is being pulled out of my chest.

Better go get my pillow and set up the couch.