Pertussis a.k.a. The Whooping Cough

Well let me tell you, it has been a fun two weeks. After 3 doctor appointments and one trip to Children's Hospital, we find out that Carter has come down with Pertussis. Now, if you look this up on the Internet, it sounds pretty scary...oh, and it is, but luckily Carter is not having to be hospitalized for it. Basically it is a terrible cough that takes your babies breath away...they cough so hard they turn blood red/blue, they stick their tongue out, and their eyes water. They cough until all air is out of their lungs and then they take a big breath in that sounds like a loud "whoop".. hints the name Whooping Cough.
Babies are vaccinated for this but it takes 3 rounds of vaccinations to be completely covered. The vaccinations come at 2, 4, and 6 months of age. Obviously since Carter is only 3 months old, he has only had one vaccination and was still susceptible to the disease. Dr. Webster told me that there has been a recent outbreak of it, and Carter could have gotten it from ANYWHERE. The grocery store, church, Target...ect...it is airborne, so anyone who had it and coughed and we were near...well that's how he could have gotten it.
When Children's called this past Tuesday to let us know he tested positive, not 5 minutes later we get a call from the Health Department. Anyone who had been in close contact with Carter had to be treated. So that meant that Chad and I, Kerri, Jared, Mom, Dad, Steve, Debbie, and Grandma all had to be put on a Z-pac just in case we had contracted it.
I laughed and told Chad that they were going to come and zip up our house in plastic!

Anyways, Carter seems to be tolerating it okay. Dr. Webster said they had a 6 week old almost die from it the other day, so I deem ourselves lucky that Carter didn't have to be put in the hospital and we can just deal with it at home- that is a praise to our Lord.
But, that doesn't mean that Chad and I aren't on edge 24-7. We wait all day for when the next coughing fit is going to happen, and all we can do is pick him up and pat him on the back and tell him it's going to be okay. One good thing is that he is perfectly normal between attacks, so he is still smiling, laughing and playing as usual.
The cough is worse at night, so we have had to call on our Moms a few times to take the night shift so we can get some sleep. Last night, Chad and I trucked it up to the Lake to spend the night at Mom's. He was going fishing today so this way I don't have to be by myself.
His night cough seems to be getting better, it isn't a violent every time and he is waking up only like 2-3 times a night instead of 5-6 times. There have been nights where Chad and I were both in tears trying to figure out if we needed to take him to Children's again, but the last few days he has seemed to have gotten progressively better. So the Lord has definitely been answering our prayers. Chad and I prayed and told Him we couldn't do this by ourselves and we needed some help, and He has answered.
Carter is on an antibiotic that will help him not spread the sickness to anyone else. Unfortunately since we didn't find out he had Pertussis until he was in the second stage, the antibiotic will only help with the spread of the sickness...basically the bacteria has already done the damage that causes the cough so his body will just have to heal itself, which will take a few weeks. But the cough should get progressively better and less severe as the days go on. There is no set amount of time the sickness lasts, it could go on anywhere from 1 to 6 weeks.
He finishes his antibiotic next Wednesday and then we are safe to get out of the house with him and into public again. So if you see us coming and Carter still has the cough, don't worry, he's not contagious anymore after he's done with the antibiotic, but he will still have a cough for a little while. I wouldn't dare wish this on any other parent, so I will make sure we keep him in until all is clear.
Well that is our story thus far. Sorry I haven't had any blog updates lately, we have had our hands full!
Hope everyone has a good Easter...we will be watching a service from the couch this year :)