The Cough

I HATE The Cough. When I was little, I remember having The Cough in the middle of the night waking everybody up. My mom would get up and give me cough syrup with codeine (nasty!) and my dad would get mad because I would cough and cough. As I got older, my parents would have me get up and drink hot tea with honey in it--much better than the cough syrup with Codeine, but it took a while for The Cough to go away.

Now, as a mom, The Cough haunts me. When Morgan was a baby, she got a really bad cold at Christmas time. I remember the barking sound. It was terrible, and we went through many sleepless nights. She ended up having croup at one point. That was scary. I remember sitting in the bathroom with her just running the shower and getting the steam going. It didn't seem to help until the doctor gave us the croup medicine (predisolone--a form of prednisone). From then on, that was the only thing that would stop The Cough. She had it every winter, and it was hell--I felt so bad for her--her little body would just shake and she would be exhausted. It almost makes me cry to think about how much she suffered. She was such a trooper. When I had Sydney, Morgan had The Cough while we were in the hospital, and I remember thinking the nurses were going to kick her out it was so bad. Finally, the day care provider told us that she thought Morgan had asthma, and gave us the name of a specialist to take her to. Morgan was very sick at the time. So, we went to see Dr. Davis, and sure enough, she diagnosed Morgan with Asthma. In addition, Morgan had Pneumonia--it was so scary. That started the breathing treatments--Morgan hated them--and the prednisolone--which really kicked The Cough in the butt--thank goodness. Then we took Morgan back the next year with the same symptoms and she had a sinus infection--they were going to do a Cat Scan of her head to make sure, and it scared the hell out of me--I remember crying (I'm such a wimp!). Once again, Morgan was a trooper.

Well, The Cough came back--along with the pangs in my stomach (it literally makes me nauseous to listen to her)--we were doing so well--Morgan's been off her nightly medication since early last fall, and she has barely had any colds. I think this time it's allergies--she's been complaining of sinus headaches, and now with the 'post nasal drip' The Cough reared it's ugly head. I HATE IT. We were up with her twice last night. I don't want to start the breathing treatments again, but we might have to. Morgan had a concert today--her Cub Choir group is singing to some teachers that are retiring--and heaven forbid she miss school. So, off she went--barking along--even after getting some over-the-counter medicine. I hope she makes it through. Her concert to the parents is Friday, and she is determined that she is not going to miss it. . . I hope she's better by then. Poor thing.