Mah Poor Sick Baybee!or 'Snot Very Fun

Peeper has a cold. And she got it from me.
Making me feel (once again) like the Worst. Mother. Ever.

Her cardiologist has given us basically three instructions, over and over:

1. Feed her and get some meat on her bones. CHECK.
2. Administer the medications he prescribed. CHECK.
3. Don't let her get sick. FAIL!

And, of course, this happens just as I was starting to pat myself on the back for having gotten her through four months, and almost to surgery, without even a cold.

Last Saturday, I was starting to feel icky, with a scratchy throat and that blah feeling, and at the same time, Peeper was being rather cranky, and not bouncing back from her vaccinations on Wednesday.

I talked to a nurse at the pediatrician's office, and she said that the shots - especially since she got the Synagis, too - could make her feel yucky for 3 - 4 days, but that if she started to cough, sneeze or seem congested (more than normal) to bring her in, because the doctor would probably want to put her on antibiotics, just in case, since she's got surgery coming up.

Well, I've continued to be sneezy and a bit congested, but not badly at all, with a bit of a runny nose. The yuckiness has stayed in my head, and I've not actually felt bad, overall, since that first day or two. No more fevery, sick feeling at all.

Over the middle part of the week, Peeper seemed to be coughing more, but still the same "chokey" cough that she's always done.

We asked the cardiologist about it, and he wasn't worried at all. He's said before that it's just a matter of aspirating some saliva, and she's starting to drool more, so it stands to reason there would be more there to head down the wrong direction.

He listened to her chest, of course, and didn't hear anything amiss, even when I told how I'd been feeling.

Actually, the conversation went something like this:

Doctor: She's looking great for surgery, just keep her away from anybody who's sick.
Whozat: Well, I'm afraid I have a bit of a cold.
Doctor (cheerfully): Keep her away from anybody who's sick.

What does that mean? Turn back time and keep her away from me a week to ten day ago when I was exposing her to this before I knew I had it?

Anyway, we were reassured by his assessment, until yesterday (the very next day after the appointment) when she started coughing more and more, and sneezing more and more, and the cough started sounding more real and her nasal excretions became very, very different.

(I'm a whiz with the nose-cleaning now, but we suddenly went from working and working to catch that one elusive little boogie to sucking out bulb-syringes-full of snot.

And the pathos.

Oh, she is so, so pitiful and sad and whiney.

When she woke up at 3:30 am, crying and snorting, I called the pediatrician's office and left a message, hoping to get her in to see a doctor today. They were booked up, but she's got an appointment tomorrow morning, and I'm guessing there will be antibiotics coming.

(More meds to add to our schedule. Yippee.)

Given how mild this "illness" (It's hard to even call it that - in fact, I'd about convinced myself it was just allergies and not something infectious - until Peeper caught it, too.) has been for me, we're really hoping it's just a wimpy bug and with a little help from Mama's antibodies, she'll knock it right out, and be all better by Thursday, when she does her pre-op testing.

I understand that there will be a chext x-ray involved, to make sure she doesn't have pneumonia or something (standard pre-op procedure, not because of the cold) so I guess they'll make the call then as to whether we're proceding as planned, or rescheduling.

As much as we hate the idea of surgery, we are ready to have it done with, so we're really hoping we don't have to reschedule.

Go-away-baby-snot-mojo is appreciated.