So which one is it?!

So as some of you know, Bransyn has had a cough for quite some time. About 4 months now. It all started back in the middle of October when he got a cold. Well, after that cold was over, he was still coughing. So I waited a bit for it to stop. After about 2 weeks of this & no sign of it stopping, I took him to the Dr & he had an ear infection (he didn't have it that whole time, just happened to develop around the time I took him in) So they said that he'd probably stop coughing after that was gone. Well I take him into his one year/ear infection follow up appointment & he was STILL coughing, so his pediatrician gave me a prescription for a 4-day anti-inflamitory & said that it should stop after that was gone. Well, it DID get a tad bit better, but only for a few days & never completely stopped. So a few weeks later we were off to the dr yet again. When I took him in that time, his cough was sounding a little weird. She asked me if it sounded like croup, but I have never heard a 'croupy cough' before so I didn't know what it sounded like! And of course, he didn't cough once while we were there so she could hear it. But she said that croup was going around pretty crazy, so it could be that & gave the a dose of the antibiotic needed to get rid of it, just in case it was croup. (She gave it to me in a syringe with a cap, to give to him if his cough started sounding like a 'barking seal' and like he couldn't breath at the end of each cough.) I never did end up giving it to him, cause it definitely was not croup. Well his cough seemed to be getting even worse, so I took him in again today. They listened to his lungs & FINALLY, they sounded wheezy. (Not saying that's a good thing, but every other time I took him in, his lungs were clear so that's part of the reason they couldn't figure out what was wrong with him) He said that he COULD have asthma cause that's exactly what it sounds like... BUT, bronchiolitis sounds the exact same as asthma in the lungs. So it could be one of the two. They decided to go with bronchiolitis for now since they won't diagnose asthma until 2 years old. They treat them both the same at this age anyways, so he is on breathing treatments from a nebulizer for now. I am supposed to give them to him every 4-6 hours. I'm doing every 4 hours now, but if he's okay at night, then we just let him sleep. If he does start having coughing attacks in his sleep, then I will give it to him though. If after a week he starts to do better, then I can add more time in between treatments. I gave him his first one tonight, & he seemed to do okay with it. He put the thing in his mouth for maybe a minute or 2, but then wanted it out. haha. But he was okay with me holding it in front of his face, so hopefully he cooperates for the rest of them... we have 60 to do. I'm kind of iffy on the bronchiolitis diagnosis, just because this has been going on for soooo long, I'd think that if it WAS that, then it would be gone by now! I really do not want it to be asthma, I'd just like for them to know for SURE what it is. It's getting really stressful not knowing what is wrong with my baby & I feel sooo bad that he is always coughing & there's not much I can do, other then keep taking him to the Dr, and even they don't know for sure what's wrong! :(


ONE WEEK LATER: (1/29)
It has now been one week since I took Bransyn to the Dr & got him started on breathing treatments. The first couple times he did pretty good with it, but he got sick of them pretty fast! He would scream & fight me when I would do it. It got pretty hard to hold him down & hold that thing in front of his face by myself, so I actually started swaddling him while I did it! That actually helped a LOT! I forgot how much he loves being swaddled, since I haven't done that since he was 5 or 6 months old. But half the time he will actually fall asleep while I do it. (which is funny because the dr told me that it would most likely make him really hyper because it has caffeine in it) There still are a few times that he will kick & scream trying to get away, which makes it pretty hard because this kid is STRONG! And it just breaks my heart that I have to put him through that :( They DO seem to be helping as of now. I really didn't see a difference until today , though. Usually every night he wakes up having one of his 'coughing attacks' around 3 or 4, but last night he didn't! He also hasn't been coughing as much during the day, so I hope & pray that this is going to help him & he can finally stop coughing! We're almost half way done & he will have his follow up appointment on Feb 23, I believe. (that's also his 15 month appointment!) So cross your fingers that he'll be doing better by then! I'll keep everyone updated on that appointment & what I find out!