That Darn Stuffy Nose

Ezra has essentially had a stuffy nose since birth, so under normal circumstances, we don’t worry. But yesterday morning was a little different. I was still at work (of course) and Ahna was awoken at 330am to Ezra having difficulty breathing and needing some food. Problem was that he was having such a difficult time breathing – due to the stuffiness – that he wouldn’t feed, which resulted in frustration on his behalf, which resulted in more hunger, which resulted in more stuffiness, which resulted in lots and lots of crying. We consulted on the phone and decided to head into the pediatrician’s office to check in with them. In the between time, Ezra managed to settle down some and finally feed. 

We went into the pediatrician’s office late morning and was able to see our normal doctor. She did a sick-check on him and everything looked just fine (no temp, etc). She also instructed us on the use of the saline drops and reinforced that what we were doing were the right things, but she wasn’t too worried about how he was doing. Once home, we tried the saline drops – which as advertised loosened everything up – did a little suctioning with the bulb, and ended up with a really huge bugger. He ended up with a clear nose. Each time that he has gotten a stuffy nose in the last 24 hours, we have pulled out the saline and subsequently a large bugger. Dr. Sheehan reminded us that since we live at altitude in a really dry climate (on pace for the driest year on record for Denver; we are less than half of normal precipitation) he will tend to get stuffy quickly, and have some problem getting rid of it…thus the saline.

We were invited to a taco dinner at Cyrilla and Tanner’s house last night, and were joined by Karen and David and Mary Polidoro. The special guest of the evening was Mallory, who just arrived yesterday from Indiana. We tend to see Mallory about once a year, and I have to say that she is growing into a wonderful young woman. It was great to be able to introduce her to Ezra and to hear all about volleyball and basketball. Dinner was a lot of fun and Tanner did his best to make a goofy face for the camera (see below).