Baby's First Cold

Yes, that's right, another milestone. All it took was 3 partial days at Baby Factory, and LL is sick. (And, now, so am I, but whatever.) I know that increased exposure to illness is one of the common pitfalls of daycare, and increased exposure now should build up his immune system and make him more resilient later on, but still -- what the hell?! Though it does give me a convenient excuse for staying home with him this week instead of bringing him back to Baby Factory.

He has a runny nose and is sneezing and coughing, and often sounds congested. He also has a mild fever (it was 99.5 by this afternoon). We've been holding him upright as much as possible, we propped up his crib mattress so that he could sleep with his head elevated slightly to help to drain his congestion, and we're running a humidifier in his room. But the poor little guy is so miserable. He has no idea what's going on. He just knows that he's uncomfortable. He's crying and clingy and just wants to hang over my or S's shoulder with his finger in his mouth, pouting and quietly sobbing. It's so pathetic.

We called the pediatrician's office, and the nurse there said not to give him anything, keep monitoring his fever, and to bring him in if we are ever unable to coax a smile out of him. (I never knew that smiling was a diagnostic tool for infants.) So, every time we change his diaper, we do a round of Itsy Bitsy Spider, just to make sure that he still finds it amusing. So far so good. He giggles briefly, but it quickly dissolves into this sad little half-smile, like he appreciates our effort but just feels too crummy to really enjoy it.

LL's cold started early Friday morning, when I noticed him having trouble nursing because he was too stuffed up to breathe easily through his nose. My sore throat and all-over aches and pains waited until Friday evening. And both of us got worse over the course of the day today. It's good that it was a weekend, because S got to stay home and make me soup and help to hold LL. Now we just hope that I'm passing LL enough antibodies through my breast milk that we both feel better soon. But, the nurse warned that infant colds usually last 7-10 days, so we both may still get worse before things start looking up. Damn you, Baby Factory!