Sleep Baby, Sleep

I have had what has probably been the worst few days, since having children. 

It started on Sunday morning, when Cole woke up wheezing.  It progressed into an upper respitory viral infection, and the poor little guy could not breathe, or sleep.  It has been absolutely miserable. 

I took Cole to the doctor on Monday, to make sure all the congestion wasn’t settling in his lungs, or that he didn’t have something more serious.  The doctor said his lungs were completely clear, but he had the viral infection.  He suggested the standard stuff- humidifier, liquids, etc.  Since Cole was having a hard time sleeping, he told me it was okay to give him some Children’s Benadryl to help him sleep and to thin some of the mucus out.

I wish it had been that simple- yesterday afternoon, I was at my witts end.  Cole fell asleep on Tuesday night around 8; slept for about 4 hours, and then woke up, and was up until yesterday afternoon around 3.  Since Sunday, he had gotten a total of about 10 hours of sleep, and since I had not been able to fall asleep when he did on Tuesday night, I had been going for about 32 hours with NO sleep.  

That is how miserable he was.  Every time he tried to go to sleep, he started to cough, or choke, throw up, or just couldn’t breathe.  I tried everything and I mean everything, with no success.  Ryan had never gone that long without sleeping, so I felt completely helpless and that is the worse- when your baby is so miserable, and you can’t do anything to help him. 

I got some good suggestions from my friends, so I was ready to try some new things, when Cole passed out from what I am sure was just pure exhaustion around 3.  He and I both slept for two hours, (Joe’s mom was a lifesaver, and had come by earlier for Ryan).

After Joe got home from work, I ran out to Walgreens to get some Little Noses Decongestant Nose Drops, that my friend suggested to help with the congestion, and some Children’s Benadryl.  I gave those to him before bed, and he slept for about 3 hours, and then woke up crying, screaming, and inconsolable. 

At that point, I looked at the Benadryl bottle again, and realized I hadn’t been giving him the recommended amount for his age and weight. I gave him the correct dose, and then I sat with him crying, because I didn’t know what else I could do for him.

Joe took him, and laid down with him on the couch.  Joe held him on his chest, and held him for almost an hour while Cole cried, and cried, and cried.  He finally went to sleep a little after midnight, and slept until 7 this morning, only waking up to nurse for a few minutes.

He seems like he is over the worst of it, and took a good 4 hour nap this afternoon, and is now sleeping soundly again, with the help of Little Noses, and Benadryl. 

I hope the rest of us don’t catch this nasty cold.  We have been taking Airborne and Emergen-C, so hopefully we can fight it off.  I have never seen a baby fight sleep so hard.  We were joking that he was like an elephant, and we needed a tranquilizer gun to take him down (and I mean that in a loving way).  I just wanted him to sleep, because he can’t start to heal until he gets some rest. 

I am a little worried that he won’t stay asleep tonight, but am hoping for the best.  I am going to drink some tea, and get to bed so I can get a little rest too, in case he wakes up. 

P.S. The picture at the top is Cole when he was 1 day old. 

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Update- 2/16/07 at 11:30 am

Cole slept 10 hours straight last night!  Woo Hoo!  He just woke up from an hour nap, (no Benadryl needed), and I am sure he’ll go down for an afternoon nap.  It is wild to think he got almost the same amount of sleep in one night than he got in 3 days.  At any rate, I am glad the worst seems to be over.  Now we’ll see if he holds up so Joe and I can go on our Valentine’s date tonight.  🙂