Poor Baby

What is it with this winter? Poor Jif, he has literally been sick every other week since October. Before September he had never been sick once! This pounding of his immune system is showing its effect now. Jif was sick about 2 weeks ago with a virus, he got better for about 4 days. On Tuesday night we drove down to the in-laws to see Jif’s uncle come home from his mission in Texas. That night he had a barely runny nose. The next morning when he woke up he could hardly breathe. His lungs were so junky, he was wheezing, he had retractions (sign of respiratory distress where the skin around your ribs sucks it which shows you are working really hard to breathe), and he was a lot more quiet than normal. I took him to urgent care, which hopefully our insurance will cover since we were out of area, and the doctor was literally surprised by how sick Jif actually was but how well he looked. Jif is such a happy easy-going baby, he was super sick but he acted happy still. He sent us for immediate x-rays which showed that Jif had pneumonia. Now we have antibiotics, an expectorant, electrolyte drinks, humidifiers, chest percussions, and a mom who has had very little sleep in the last few days. Jif’s dad and uncle gave him a Priesthood blessing 2 nights ago which really eased my mind. Immediately after the blessing Jif started breathing better and hasn’t been so distressed as before the blessing. But he is still wheezing and has junky lungs. I feel so bad for him. It is so hard to have a sick baby, it breaks my heart. Although our trip to see Jif’s uncle had this pitfall, it was great to see him again. He has grown up so much since his mission and we have really missed him. It was the first time that he has seen Jif, and Jif took to him right away. I can’t wait for Christmas when the entire family is together. So anyway, in case you are wondering, Jif and I are going to be out for a while. I’m not letting him play with other kids until his immune system picks up a bit, which probably means not until after Christmas.