Colds and cold

After a reasonably warm weekend with lots of rain, it has turned cold again which brought snow. I know that cold temperatures don't cause colds, but it sure seems that colds come with cold temps. So now Teddy has a head cold, Lourdes has the slightest of colds, and I feel a little run down. Hopefully a little rest and over-the-counter medicine for all will keep things in check and let us all recover.

Teddy actually had the croup at the end of November. The good thing about that was that we now know what it is and how dangerous it really can be. Infants and small children have small windpipes and croup is an inflammation of the windpipe caused by a viral infection. This inflammation causes difficulty breathing and causes a barking sound when they cough. Usually croup will go away in a few days, but a severe case can require breathing treatments, steroids, and hospitalization. Teddy was close to being admitted. We didn't realize how distressed his breathing really was. Now we know what to look out for and what actions we need to take. For more information on croup, check out kidshealth.org.