Madeline update

Just a quick update on Madeline--

I took her to our pediatrician Monday morning to recap what happened during the ER event last Thursday night. I feel inundated with information, which is great, but I am still processing through all of the things the doctor said. I am sure I will leave out some facts and what-not, but since I am trying to be brief anyway (as if I could be!), I guess it works out. :)

Basically, at 9 months, she is too young for a solid diagnosis, but the doctor thinks she could have asthma that is triggered by viruses. That would make sense, since every. time. she gets a runny nose, she gets all kinds of dramatic coughs and chest rattles.

She is now going to be on a daily nebulizer regimen (so sad to watch, but the mask that fits on her face is a little fish!) with an option to also offer her a bronchodilator if she can't breathe. The preventative therapy is intended to prevent (duh) a cold from turning into a scary can't-breathe situation, so hopefully we will never have another wheezing event.

We don't like that Madeline is sick so often, but we also don't like her being pumped full of medicine, so we are trying to weigh all of our options to see what we feel like would be the very best for her. If you would, please pray for us to make wise decisions as we navigate what could be a long road (and then again, we may look back on this in one month and wonder why we thought there was anything wrong with her!).

But don't worry. She still laughs at anything, loves to cuddle and grab noses, and gets excited about her sippy cup and her Cheerios. You really never would know she was any kind of sick (and she's not seriously sick at that) unless you heard her cough. She crawls all over the house after her big sister and sleeps like a champ. In short, she's great.

We do have a few more decisions to make regarding her preventative treatment and exploratory tests, but we are related to three doctors, so I think we'll be able to get some good advice.  :)

Thanks to all of you who texted, emailed, and called to see how Mads was doing. We appreciate that so many people care about us and our little girls. (I feel that a smiley face is appropriate here, but I have already hit my personal posting-limit of two, so just know that I am smiling even if that sentence is not.)