Our Sickling

Cougar is definitely our most sickly child. He's gotten more junk than the girls ever seemed to get. We found out when he was 9 months old that he has a slight heart murmur that we are still monitoring. It doesn't seem to be a problem but our pediatrician listens for changes at each of his well checks ... so far, so good. He hasn't been too prone to ear infections, luckily, but runny noses and coughs seem common ground for him - especially in the "winter." Back in July I talked to his doctor about my concern over his rattly chest. He seemed to always have congestion in his chest ... rattling, wheezing, etc. He has what they call "reactive airway" which is basically what they call asthma before they can "officially" diagnose it at age 3 but does not always indicate they will indeed have asthma ... many children outgo the problem. It was then that we were given a nebulizer and Albuterol to treat his breathing problems.

He's had a cough and snotty nose again the past few days so I decided to take him in to the doc to have him checked out before our upcoming trip so we could make sure his ears looked good and so we could treat anything that might need treating so he's in good shape when we travel. After a breathing treatment in the doctor's office we were sent out for a chest x-ray. They sat him on this little seat like a bicycle seat and wrapped these plastic body forms around him to hold his body and arms in the right position. He wasn't too upset about it at first but then he realized that this wasn't supposed to be a pleasant experience and kind of lost it. It was heartbreaking!!! Here are a few pics of that super fun process:
The news came about 5:45 P.M. ... PNEUMONIA!! My sweet baby boy has pneumonia :( He is now on 5 medications including 2 different nebulizer treatments, an antibiotic, a HORRIBLE steroid (that he does not want to take AT ALL), and allergy meds. Ah, the joys. Say a little prayer for Cougar so he's feeling great, breathing well, and ready to live it up at Disneyland!!