marydell | A little better this morning

The 4-hour cycle of nose suction, motrin, albuterol, and small frequent feedings, plus sleeping in his carseat inside his crib, seems to be doing the trick. The 7 am bottle did not produce any wheezing, unlike the prior ones, although he's still coughing and his breathing's a little labored. Temp has been normal all night. We put his steroid in this bottle, too, so his chest should clear a little more soon. As a bonus, his skin looks gorgous - the steroid indiscriminately clears up inflammation all over the body, so his normal eczema patches and chappy bits are all gone.

Everything would be so much simpler if he knew how to blow his nose and cough productively. I'll see if they make a board book for that.

PSA for other parents of wee ones (TMI for everybody else): That ear-thermormeter thingy is CRAP, at least while their ear canals are small - it's too hard to get a real reading, and too easy to get a convincing-seeming fake one. They make good rectal therms nowadays that have a safety flange and are flexible, so the babies don't even notice them. Except sometimes they reflexively poop on you. Hey, that's babies for you.