Pneumonia

Well, I've been offline for a few days because Snuggles was sick. Really sick.

I blogged last week about Snuggles catching another cold, and how we had to take him to the urgent care because he refused to eat. Well, Snuggles seemed to improve last week, although he never returned to normal. The cough and congestion continued. He couldn't breastfeed well because his nose was so stuffy.

Saturday morning, Snuggles was in a bad way. He was whiny and fussy and just basically unsettled. I could tell he was uncomfortable. He seemed warm, so I took his temperature, and was surprised to find he had a fever... again!  I called Nana-Nurse, and we decided to take Snuggles back to Quick Care.

[Side note: Why does this kid insist on being sickest on the weekends?!]

The doctor at Quick Care examined Snuggles, and didn't like the sound of his cough. The doctor tested him for RSV (negative). He suspected Snuggles had developed a secondary infection in the lower respiratory tract, pneumonia.  The best way to diagnose pneumonia is to do a chest x-ray and blood work.  But the doctor said he didn't want us to have to wait for 3 hours at the hospital for an x-ray and subject Snuggles to blood work. So he prescribed an antibiotic, and told us to follow up with Snuggles' pediatrician on Monday.

Snuggles was still very sick on Sunday, with a temperature over 101.

On Monday morning, Snuggles seemed to be doing a little better, although his temp was still around 100. I took him to see his pediatrician. She examined him and said one of two things was going on:

1) Snuggles had developed pneumonia, and the antibiotic was working. If this was the case, she suspected his fever would not return.
2) Snuggles didn't have pneumonia, but had contracted a second virus that caused more congestion and coughing. If that were the case, she suspected the fever would return Monday evening and then it would be over by Tuesday.

Either way, the pediatrician instructed us to continue the antibiotic.

Snuggles' fever never returned Monday.  He made a real turn-around that afternoon, exactly 48 hours after starting the antibiotic.

So we don't really know if Snuggles had pneumonia or if he just had another nasty virus. Whatever it was, Snuggles was one sick baby.

After 12 days of illness in varying degrees, Snuggles' personality finally returned.  He was back to smiling and laughing.  I'm so thankful to see those dimples again! I'm pretty sure Snuggles' laughter is the most beautiful sound in the world.