Oh gosh. Thank goodness for that gut feeling.
I have no experience but hope that you've caught it in time to avoid the cough all together.
Sending get well soon vibes to your DS and hope that you and DH don't wind up with it too x
How scary for you and your DH. I hope that your DS avoids the cough and the ab's limit how unwell he gets.
I have to say I think you're awesome to have such great instincts and to act on them. Your son is in good hands hun. Come in here and post any time you need to, take him to the GP as often as you like to get him checked over for your peace of mind. The waiting will be so tough. Try to find space from your worry each day to enjoy your son and forget this for a while. x
DS spent his first night in hospital last night. We live in a Rural area and have a small district hospital.
I had been feeding DS at around midday. I noticed he was vomiting alot during his feed (thanks Michael your post is so spot on). I went to burp him and he starting to cough and couldn't get his breath. I took this to be the first sign that the cough had started. It was pretty scary seeing his eye bulged wide and no breath going in. (Later in hospital I realise this wasn't the start of the cough just choking on the mucus that is a symptom of the WC). Once he got his breath he seemed stable (which is another symptom of WC - kids actually look fit as a fiddle in during the illness) so I called the hosptial and they told me to bring him in.
I drove him (calmly-don't know how I managed that) to the hospital and took him into emergency. They triaged him straight away because he was a 6 week old and because he is in the contagious stage. (We started him on anti-biotics on Wednesday night and he will be contagious for 5 days). In casualty they separated him from everyone else until he was seen by the paediatrician. They admitted him for observation and we were taken to the childrens ward and put into isolation. DH had arrived at hospital by this stage too.
In our room we had a monitor for his oxygen levels and his pulse. That alone allowed me to get a couple of hours sleep overnight because for 3 nights I hadn't slept for staying up and watching him breath. One thing I noticed was that his cold symptoms seemed to be easing (with WC you look like you have a cold but it's actually a symptom of the WC so anti-biotics can actually help to clear this up). Also we were injection saline drops into his nose and this was making a big difference to his breathing.
I'm going to post this and then type another post so I don't lose what I have typed so far.
DS had a great night. He looked good and was actually looking better today (which I call day 5 of the illness) than the previous days. The Dr. came to see us at about 9am. He is a really nice man and he by now knew that I had done my WC research and wasn't afraid to ask questions or offer my opinion and he was not offended by that but rather somewhat amused I think.
The Dr. said pretty much something along these lines "so here's the thing with DS - in my experience I never heard of a child who has presented at six weeks of age with such an early diagnoses. I don't really have anything to base his illness on. One thing that I have noticed is that the anti-biotics have been started very early in the illness and his coldlike symptoms have eased. WC is a bacteria that spreads a toxin into the lung and coat the lungs in mucus and makes it very hard to even an adult to get up. A six week old baby will not be able to get the mucus up. They will try to swallow the mucus, this is why they require so much assistance and why it's such a dangerous disease in babies. I am hoping, because I've never seen this before that your DS has had the anti-biotics so early that the bug will be dead perhaps before the toxins had a chance to take over. Most people present their children six weeks into the illness. Your DS has been present on perhaps day 4"
So what happens from here.....we have been released and are at home. We have a letter from the paed that if we need to go to emergency we show them and DS will be bypassed all paperwork, triage etc and just be admitted immediately. I have seen the social worker at the hospital and she has agreed with the Paed and the head nurse in the childrens ward that I can call and come in at any time for observation or just to be monitored, whenever I am feeling uneasy.
DS is only 6 weeks old...by the time this illness is done with him he will be 3 months old! Basically it's just a waiting game and no-one know what each hour will bring. (Stress).
The Paed also mentioned that my GP was amazing in doing the swab. He actually told the social worker that if I had of presented to him he would have told me that the test was not necessary. That's the 'normal' procedure. He was very glad that my GP did what I asked of him.
I will definately be updating on here just for my own peace of mind as we go through this horrible journey. I just pray and would gratefully accept all other prayers that our DS pulls through this illness.
Thanks for reading and sorry if there are spelling mistakes as I couldn't be bothered to reread what I had written.
Oh my - it's really a long haul, isn't it I read your first update and was wating for the rest with my heart in my mouth - can't imagine what you're going through right now. I really, really hope that your little guy comes through this all well.
Wow darl what a scare! I think I held my breath through reading those two posts. Your poor little man it breaks my heart to think of him gasping for breath.
Once again - how brilliant of you to catch it early and it sounds like all the medical people are also doing their part well.
Please keep us posted and sending some huge health vibes to your family xx
Ausiegirl can you tell me please what your doctor said about contracting whooping cough. I think you might have already said this and I will try to locate it in a minute, but I just wanted to ask because my MIL rang my husband the other night and said she tested positive to whooping cough, I don't think we have seen her since my birthday (1st June) but I took Brianna to the doctor anyway as I panicked when I heard. He didn't do the swab because he said she doesn't seem unwell and the time frame means she would have been sick by now! I am freaking out, I thought he would do a swab anyway just to be sure. DD1 has been coughing for a while, but he didn't want to swab her either because apparently she is covered by whooping cough from the injection...
Doc says it would not take 4 weeks to see signs of WC, is that what your info says too or should I get a second opinion do you think? I can't believe that MIL didn't even let me know that she had suspected Whooping Cough, to think she was going to come over the other night before she found out that the test was positive. DH says she was only going to come up if the test was negative, but I am still so mad that she hasn't bothered to inform me before hand.
Brianna has had a couple of coughs here and there where she looses her breath momentarily, like she is choking, but she is not choking on food or anything. She has been quite unsettled at times lately. We've been giving her mylanta that the doc prescribed for reflux.
Firstly I'm so sorry to hear this, secondly what the hell is wrong with a doctor who will not swab just to be sure. I would definately be going elsewhere and INSISTING on another swab. There is no downside to having the swab done.
As far as I know there are 3 stages to WC. The first is the Cattharal stage. That is where the person presents symptoms of a cold etc. In this stage they may start to cough here and there but nothing that seems serious. This stage normally lasts 1 or 2 weeks before moving into the next and most serious part of the disease.
....the paroxysmal stage. This is the most serious part where the coughing becomes paralysing and it normal comes on around 3 or 4 weeks after contracting WC. This is where your baby can lose it's breath or turn blue. The third stage is the recovery stage, this part takes weeks or even months to get over and has coughing, less severe than the 2nd stage.
There is a limited window for testing for whooping cough. The swab needs to be done as early as possible once the cough has started the disease becomes less contagious and by the 4th week the swabs may come back negative because the bacteria is dead.
Gemini_girl don't take no for an answer. I hope that your little one is O.K. Please keep me updated.
Thanks Aussiegirl I will try to get her in tomorrow. She had a coughing fit this evening and stopped breathing for about 10 seconds, it scared the hell out of me. She was about to have a bottle, but didn't want it after that happened. She seems settled at the moment, but if she does it again or anything similar I think it will be a trip straight to hospital. She has been a bit snotty, and sneezing a bit too but other than that she hasn't been to bad, just the occasional cough. I don't know if the cough is part of the reflux thing, but her reflux had been improving - she hadn't been vomiting as much. I have noticed over the past 3 days or so that she has been drinking a lot less of her milk. I have been keeping a record of her feeding etc, and she gets quite unsettled in the evenings, although in saying that she is sound asleep on DH chest at the moment. She starts crying when we put her down.
I am waiting to hear the result from FIL test.
Good luck with everything Gemini_girl. I'd definately take her to hospital if she has another breathing episode like that. Regardless of what is the cause she might need assistance. Take care. xoxo
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