You know you're a mom of a respiratory kiddo when...

Yes. I know. Two blog posts in one night. This one has been brewing since Beckett's last hospital stay. Respi Mamas: What would you add to this list?

You know you're a mom of a respiratory kiddo (aka Respi) when...
1. You seriously consider investing stock in Albuterol.2. In the hospital, you try and figure out how you can steal the wall unit of O2. Seriously, the home nebulizer doesn't work nearly as fast delivering meds as those bad boys.
3. The words crackle take on a new meaning. Course Crackle. Loose Crackle. And no, it's not your breakfast, Rice Krispies. It's your preemie's lung sounds.
4. You can identify all the signs of retraction, and where. Ribs, accessory muscles, collar bone area, head bobbing, nasal flaring. That's right moms, learn the lingo. Impress those doctors with your symptom watching skills.
5. You watch the clock counting down 1. until the next albuterol breathing treatment and 2. until the steroids fully kick after 10-12 hours. Two fold however. Thankful they can breathe. Not as thankful for the wired behavior that follows.
6. The nurses and doctors listen to your kiddo's lung sounds, and you're taking deep breaths too.
7. You have an overnight bag (aka "the evil admit bag") packed within 24 hours of your child's first cold symptoms.
8. You understand and are also annoyed that RAD (reactive airway disease) is asthma in a kiddo under 2, and indeed is not rad, like cool.
9. You actually sometimes pray it's just viral and NOT bacterial...pneumonia that is. Seems so weird to cheer for a virus that you can't really "treat."
10. You know the difference between stridor and wheezing, and help to educate your friends. Here's a little trick to help you remember. Stridor has an "i" in it, so it's on the inhalation. Inhalation starts with an I. (So this is when you hear a whistle sound when they breathe "in"). Wheezing has an "e" in it, and most often wheezing is audible on the exhalation. Exhalation starts with an E. (So this is when you hear a whistle sound when they breathe "out") *Don't be fooled however because wheezing sometimes is not audible. Also, of note...coughing. Lots of coughing. Definitely can mean your kiddo is wheezing, but it's just not audible like the "typical" form of whistle-y wheezing is.

...And so continues the journey of learning "the lung"...

Pray for our sweet Beckett as we have now two hospitalizations under our belt, and it's NOT even cold and flu season yet!