He's been dry coughing on and off since his first month but it was not a daily occurrence and just one or twice a day if at all. A week before Christmas, he had crusty eyes which resolved within three days.
But Sunday night, he coughed loudly and cried a little. Seemed that he was feeling awful. Monday after lunch, his nose started dripping and he developed a wet cough. I even saw his phlegm when he cried - it was like he was gargling phlegm! :(
He continued to wake every two hours to feed but on Monday night, he also woke two more times in between to cry. His cough was also scary - sudden and loud. His poop on Tuesday morning was sticky with swallowed mucous. We decided to bring him to the paediatrician to make sure his lungs were clear.
We couldn't make an appointment as the clinic was open only in the morning on Tuesdays. Upon registration at the crowded clinic, I went two floors down to my gynae for my second HPV vaccine shot and then Sito and I went to the basement for a drink. It took more than an hour to get to our turn.
The PD was very warm and talked to Yu, quite unlike our regular PD. I gave him Yu's story as above. He said the dry cough was normal and advised us to massage the area between the inside of his eyes and his nose for the crusty eyes should it recur.
As for the current ailment, he checked his lungs - clear. But he couldn't give any medicine for Yu given his age, as expected. He gave some decongestant drops and nasal spray to relieve his symptoms, and probiotics for general health. He also found thrush on his tongue and gave us something for it.
The nurse was very knowledgeable when dispensing the medicine, even using a teddy bear to demo how to use the nasal spray on a baby! We then left the clinic with a sleepy baby and a very happy papa - Sito was so pleased to make use of his company insurance that it was quite cute :) But we'll still go to our regular PD for vaccinations coz the wait is way shorter. And his insurance doesn't cover vaccinations.
I managed to give Yu the decongestant in the evening before he slept. But it wasn't until this afternoon that I gave him the thrush medicine as I wanted to read up on it and ascertain that it was indeed thrush and not milk deposit. I couldn't make a positive diagnosis using the wipe test actually and since the medicine doesn't get absorbed into the blood stream, I decided to give it to him. But I think I could confirm that I don't - and didn't - have thrush, phew! Otherwise I would have to dump some 15 bags of frozen milk!!
Yu's nose didn't drip in the day today but it did again in the evening. He also didn't cough much though I could sometimes hear his phlegm when he breathed and at one point, I thought it was croupy!! Gotta watch him closely tonight - he's been sleeping in our bed again for the past two nights.
He was so tired just now coz he was woken up by his brothers at dinner time. While Sito played with Kai, I carried Yu upright for a long time before he fell asleep. My waist and back were screaming!
But he's so poor thing. I didn't want him to cry and make his nose and cough worse so I didn't carry him lying down which he doesn't usually like - in the day, when my waist and back can't take it anymore or he cannot stay asleep when put on the bed, I can switch to the sling which hurts my right shoulder and (another part of my) back, but in the evening, he has to sleep on the bed. I'm just glad that he can be put down when it's dark; imagine if he can't!!
Sighs, feel so sad for this boy. His big brothers love him - touch his face, sneeze into his face, cough into his face. Can't help it. Just unfortunate that he got ill so young, at 2.5 months. Yang also fell ill at about two months but it was a mild runny nose that didn't require a trip to the PD. Kai was the luckiest - he first fell ill at six months, a couple of weeks into infant care.
Yu is still happy in the day, playing and talking lots. But evening time seems to be tough for him. Hope it gets better after tonight!
Happier times before the illness
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