Coughing and Gagging

Nicholas has had a cough and runny nose for a week or two at this point and it finally got to the point that I took him to the doctor this morning. It seemed silly to call the doctor over a cold, but his cough was just getting worse. It was often more like gagging than coughing and a couple times had led him to gag so hard that he threw up a little. Not to mention that it kept waking him up early from naps and every hour or two some nights.

The doctor's conclusion was that yes it is either just a cold or allergies, so nothing to worry about or really treat. He is basically just gagging on excessive phlegm. Delightful.

The doctor did however prescribe a cough and cold medicine to help. Luckily our munchkin thinks anything that comes in a medicine dropper is an exciting treat, so he happily took the medicine. I'm not sure if it is the medicine working or the half hour I had him play in the bathroom full of warm steam this evening, but so far tonight he is doing better. He is still coughing, but no scary gagging or waking himself up coughing and leading to crying. Knock on wood.

And as I wrote that, he broke into a coughing fit, so apparently knocking on wood didn't work so well. Poor baby.

Anyway, the doctor warned me that the medicine he prescribed might turn Nicholas into "Rosemary's baby." Apparently the stimulant in the decongestant causes some babies and little kids to go more than a little crazy. Not in ways dangerous to their health, but in ways that make them and their parents miserable. Since it isn't essential medicine, his recommendation in this case was to discontinue the medicine. Luckily so far at least (2 doses in) I have not seen any such metamorphasis in our Nicholas. He isn't on his best behavior, but he is no worse than he has been for the past week.

Overall, he is more tired and clingy than normal, but his face still lights up when he sees his ball or truck, so he is still in there. But Mommy is exhausted.