My 22mth old had an asthma attack today.
gee where to start...
some may have read in a few posts that ds was my special baby, he was the one that i was told wasnt viable, i bleed for almost 15 weeks, and he only had a heart beat of 85 for all that time, then one day, it jumped to 175, he was born two weeks early, and was perfect, so after spending the first half of my pregnancy being told to expect to loose him, hubby and i were so pleased to see him when he was born.
The day after he was born, i noticed that he had a rattle in his chest, a slight wheeze, but was told, its nothing, prolly just caused by him comming out so fast, i didnt even push, he just flew out, lol.
Still weeks later he had the same rattle and wheeze, went to the dr and was told he had a chest infection, for the first 6 months of his life he had a chest infection, it never seemed to go away, my mother was worried that all this wheezing and rattling would scar his chest, we saw a few different dr and just kept getting the its nothing or its a chest infection speach, another 6 months later and he still had the same rattle, u could feel it in his chest when u held him, hubby and i knew it wasnt nothing, but no one would take us seriuosly.
During that 6 months they finally decided to give him medicine, which is when we discovered that he is allergic to penicillin, over the next few months we also learnt that he has some small allergys to certain foods, such as soya bean in nut free choc spread and custard etc...
His wheezing had slowed down so much that some days u just couldnt hear him , but he still had a slight rattle in his chest.
Then last night, he woke at about 9pm coughing, this was nothing unusal, it was a regular thing that happened almost every month, a few nights of coughing, so i went in and gave him his sippy cup of water, but something just didnt sound right.
So this morning, i was still in bed having a lazy one, and he walks in, barely able to breath, the loudest whezzing that we have eva heard, it was a cross between a dog panting and a freight train, his heart was pounding and the rattle felt hard, he kept saying ow and pointing to his chest, i sat with him on the lounge while i called the drs, his breathing became shallow, and his chest would sink in, and his stomach would pop out when he breathed, he felt weak and suddly fell asleep.
Hubby and i have always said, that we believe he has asthma, both my sister and i had it as children, i grew out of it, i had a few bouts of bronchotis in my 20s, but my sister still has a mild case, my dad 54 is a severe asthmatic, but no one would eva diagnoise it.
We got to the drs, after an hour long wait, we descibed the symptoms to the dr, and finally got the diagnosis that we have known for the last 22 months, my lil baby boy was having an asthma attack, the dr explained that under 12 mths they dont like to give a label such as asthmatic, and that with this attack he is having early onset asthma attack brought on by a viral chest infection.
He was precsribed ventolin and i had to get a spacer and face mask.
I am so glad that finally, finally after many trips to the dr, that we have a diagnosis, im sad that he isnt even two, and he had the biggest scare of his life today, his face, the look in his eyes when he was grasping to breath was one i dont eva wanna see again.
He isnt keen on having the face mask, and we are struggling to get him to use the ventolin, but hes doing ok, and being so brave.
Still tonight his chest is rattling and he is wheezing, but he is breathing alot better, and his spirit has lifted and he was keen to play this afternoon.
so if u made it through all that thankyou.
I was hoping to hear how others delt with child asthma attacks, and if there is anything that i need to know, the dr wasnt all that helpful, and my mother gave me a few tips, but said try google, lol
Being so young and not able to talk, and looking so scared, just broke me today, i was being so strong holding him, and calmly talking to him, but hes still my baby, he is my lil baby.
