Sunday, January 11, 2009

broken record

I feel like I'm always typing the same thing - there's no time. There is no time. I have a ton of time to surf, what with lots of baby holding and nursing. But no time to type. I can type awkwardly with part of one hand, but it's too laborious and frustrating. I need to adjust the seat in which I nurse, to make this easier. Or learn how to use the sling, I guess, to have both hands free?

The little man has been congested since birth. I read once the trial of labor helps push fluid out of a baby's lungs, and often scheduled c-section babies have more trouble with breathing. I thought that might be the case initially, but then I think now he's caught the cold that ravaged my household. I'm the only one who didn't get anything. My dad ended up with bronchitis, my mom was miserable, husband is still worried it'll turn into a sinus infection, and my daughter keeps asking when will her cough go away. And the little man......there is nothing more pathetic than a baby with a stuffed up nose. He tries to nurse, you hear the mucous rattling, he pulls off and yells in frustration. We're suctioning his nose with that stupid blue bulb and spraying with saline solution like mad, but I"m not sure it's helping. We're getting a ton out, but there's always more. How long can this possibly last? My daughter got a bad congestion cold when she was 16 months old and that's what finally led to weaning.

So, the poor little guy can't sleep, either. Well, he sleeps and yells and grunts and snuffles and coughs and gags and complains, all while sleeping. Or trying to sleep. Last night he nursed at 11 pm and not again til 8 am. One would think that might mean he was sleeping through the night, hmm? But no - he cannot get comfortable for long before the nose starts bothering him. He needs to sit up vertically, or sit forward. Which means we're holding him upright. My husband was up til 2 with him. I went to bed at midnight and was up around 4:30. I thought he was crying to nurse, but no, his eyes were closed and when I picked him up he snuggled right against my chest. So I sat up with him until morning. I maybe dozed a bit, but nothing significant. I am tired. (let's not even talk about how poorly you sleep when your baby is coughing and gagging on mucous!) I don't know how to make it better. We have a humidifier going constantly, we're suctioning and spraying. We don't even try to put him horizontal - he sleeps in the bouncy seat or swing. I'm off dairy, hoping that might help eventually. How much longer can this last? Why didn't we buy a reclining glider? (because they are freaking expensive, that's why). Is there someplace in this house we could put a big-ass recliner? Because I feel like the only way I will get sleep again is if we go the giant lay-z-boy route. I live in a historic, fairly small rowhouse. I genuinely don't know where we'd put a recliner, though I keep looking longingly at the cheap ads. Did you know you could buy a hideous huge recliner for less than $200?

Any good hints to get us through this? Or at least words of comfort that this, too, shall pass?

5 comments:

bleu said...

A few suggestions I could think of. I so feel for you it is so hard when they cannot breathe.
One is do you have a baby swing? He could sleep in that upright possibly. I used it at times.

Second when mine was a baby I used homeopathics on him with amazing results. Hylands has a cold formula and it can safely be used on babies.

Lastly, as gross as it may be to some I found sucking mines nose worked 10 times better than the bulb thing. I would sit with him in a warm bath I had gotten steamy beforehand and just suck suck suck and spit.

I hope it gets better soon.

Tash said...

Have you tried running a really hot shower in the bathroom and holding him in the room (obviously not in the shower) and then trying to nurse? A real steam bath effect. Would be stellar if you had a separate bath/shower so you could lounge in the (very shallowly filled) tub with him and try and nurse, but worst case bring in a chair or put a bunch of towels on the floor to sit on.

re: cough: Bella had a cough since the week before T'giving. They keep saying allergies; I'm perplexed because we skipped a year, and it's seasonal (and obviously indoors). They put her on flonase and it's made all the difference in the world. Is you daughter's discharge clear or yukky? If clear, might pay to have another visit and check out some prescription allergy meds.

Finally, there is something going around in these here parts, and it sucks. hits hard for 2-4 days, and then lingers for 10-14 days. I've still got a scratchy throat, and I was sick sick almost two weeks ago.

I'm sorry!

Anonymous said...

My first was born with a milk allergy. I didn't know it fast enough and spent much of his first winter sleeping with him on my chest in a recliner! But we had the big ass lazy boy. (It was the husband's bachelor pad junk). My second was born in the spring with instant hay fever! He slept wrapped up burrito style on his side in a car seat for the first couple of months. I couldn't even lay him flat for diaper changes. My third one got the whopper of a cold at three weeks after I let the friends of the other two stroke his cheeks. It seemed to last forever.

My point here: I survived and so did they. The milk thing is worth going for. Milk makes every one mucous-ish.

suz said...

My friend swears by this suction thing:
http://www.nosefrida.com/

Colds just suck and the nose congestion seems to last forever.

Astarte said...

Poor stuffy baby!!!! Have you tried using either the plug-in or the battery-operated menthol air diffuser thing? We use those, and I think they help.