Reactive Airways

Reactive Airways.
Hard to breath.
Coughing every time you play/run/laugh to hard.
Asthma.
Whatever you want to call it, it stinks.

We had Hudson's 15 month check up this week. You may remember at his 12 month visit they gave him an inhaler to use. Well it worked for the most part, but it was more of a "rescue" type in haler. Can you imagine trying to get a toddler to breath in his air treatments while coughing, and trying to calm him down when all he wants to do is keep playing? This is NOT an easy task.

Hudson got a virus a couple weeks ago. Fever. Cough. Runny Nose. The normal stuff. We took him in to the Doctors though just in case because we had had 2 seperate friends babies be hospitalized within 2 weeks prior. One with Bronchialitis and one with pneumonia. So I was a nervous wreck. It turned out just a virus thank goodness. 2 1/2 weeks later though he is still runny nose and his cough that he gets whenever he runs around or laughs to hard had gotten worse. So worse he would throw up EVERY TIME and it took a good 30 min to calm him down. No Bueno.

After talking with his doctor we concluded Hudson has re-active airways. He is to young for it to be "asthma" but basically they are the same thing. The doc said that viruses are the #1 trigger for re-active airways. Then in return the re-active air ways make it harder to fight the virus and it lasts longer. We have decided to put Hudson on steroids for 5 days to bring down the initial swelling in his lungs. Then he will have a daily medicine (singular) used as preventative medicine. He will still have his inhaler if he needs it. In a month we go back in and if Hudson isn't able to run around without coughing there are other medicines we can try that are a little stronger. I'm not sure how long he will be on the daily medicine. At least for the foreseeable future. Hopefully it will be something he grows out of.

After Hudson's 12 month appointment I was talking with my mom and found out that not only did my little sister have to have an inhaler (I don't remember the technical name, but basically exercise induced asthma & I can't believe I had forgotten about this!) but also my dad had Bronchial Asthma up into his teens. He couldn't play basketball for very long with out having to sit out and rest his lungs and take his inhaler. So the genetics along with his NICU stay both contributed and he was bound to get something like this.

I hate it. I know, its like I am having a little pitty party and things could be much much much worse, but I don't care! It is so not fair that my little guy can't even run around his room for more then 5-10 minutes with out coughing. I don't like seeing him struggle. I wish he could just run and play like he want to oh so badly.

My fingers are crossed that this medicine will work and he will be able to be a normal active toddler in no time!

I just love this little man to pieces.