He has WHAT?!

On Wednesday morning, my otherwise healthy boy woke up with a cough. Ugh, not another cold! He only coughed a couple of times and seemed in relatively good spirits so we proceeded with our day as normal. We got ready and went for a walk with Vanessa and Sabria. It was another hot day out in the Northwest. Ace and Sabria seemed to be doing ok. We walked to a friend's house who had a pool out with just hose water and Ace who typically is anti anything below 90' got right in and was splashing around. Having a grand old time. On the ride home he got fussy and so I strapped him into the Ergo carrier and walked to rest of the way home with him on me. We were SOAKED by the time we made it home, and he was out, snoozing away - or passed out from the heat - either way. After he woke up he coughed again and that was the first indication it was deeper than a regular ol' cough.

As the afternoon turned into evening, my boys overheated body due to the weather turned into a temperature of 99'-100' - from 7pm to 10am we administered three doses of Tylenol - all to little to no avail in assisting with the fever or the discomfort of the cough. I called the pediatrician who was booked solid. So we made an appointment for Friday at 11am. However over the next hour my baby's breathing got more and more labored and my normally very active baby had been clinging to me all morning with his head on my shoulder. (I haven't had his head on my shoulder since he learned to hold his neck up!)

By 2pm I was taking him to the walk-in clinic. Loving Husband joined us. When we arrived they took his temp, it was 102.3! However by the time we saw the nurse it was 99.9', so I attribute those extra degrees to the ride in the car on a 90'+ day and the fact I was wearing him in the carrier. They stuck a monitor on his toe to test his oxygen level, he hardly seemed to care he was so out of it. They did a nose swab to check for the flu, we waited - that came back negative. The doctor suggested we do a chest xray. A chest xray?! On my baby?! So off we went to radiology. They strapped him into this plasticy high chair of sorts while dad and I on either side held his arms off to the sides. They took two pictures. We waited again. The doctor says he has a general pneumonia. His lungs are all inflamed. He just showed symptoms less than 36 hours ago!? How does he have pneumonia?!

So a prescription was prescribed and baby ibuprofen was recommended over Tylenol and we were on our way. Loving Husband picked up the medication and I grabbed us food as Ace was out before we even got him in his car seat. We gave him the antibiotics which he took like a trooper and spent most of the rest of the evening in our arms or lying next to us with a whimper. Around 8:30pm with his fever still working pretty well, we decided to give him some of the baby-ibuprofen. His fever started to come down and today it has stayed gone. The night was better than the night before but he still woke up crying a few times whenever he coughed.

He is crawling around and standing today and is back to 80%. I almost wish he'd cough more than he is - he sounds a tad wheezy, but today he's smiling. Yesterday he tried to smile, he wanted to smile but he just couldn't for real. Today his smile brings a smile and a sigh of relief to me. Just want him to get that crud out of his lungs.

I can't believe my baby at 9 months old has pneumonia!