It seems like most everyone I know is sick these days, adults and children included, so when Ari woke up one day with a barking cough, I wasn’t surprised when the doctor told us it was croup again. Only this time, he didn’t want to take his croup medication (the steroids they prescribed him to reduce inflammation in his lungs) and his cough lingered. We tried everything to get that medication into him:

  • “Ari, if you take your medicine you get a cookie!” “NO MEDICINE!” He screamed
  • We attempted to force feed it to him. This resulted in him wearing his medicine on his shirt and all over his face. It was bright pink and slimy, not a good luck. When we force fed him Children’s Advil, he was purple-faced; also unattractive.
  • Finally, Wil figured out that the only way to get him to take his medicine was to mix it in chocolate milk. This worked out well.

Unfortunately, Ari wasn’t getting better. His cough persisted as did his 102 fever. He was also noticeably lethargic. We were really concerned about him and worried about him transmitting his virus to Samara as well, so Wil took him back to the doctor while I stayed with the baby. He was diagnosed with Secondary Pneumonia, placed on antibiotics and told to rest. I wish I was
there, because I would have said “Have you met my son? He doesn’t stop, let alone rest.”

Now Samara is congested, spitting up and coughing. We’re on our way back to the pediatrician, fun times!

In other news, the transition to having two kids has been challenging, and after crying multiple times every day out of frustration and emotional exhaustion I’ve made an appointment with a therapist who specializes in Postpartum issues.

Wish me luck with it all! How did you adjust to having two kids?