Two years ago right after Valentines Day was a rough time for our family.  Archie and I had separated – he was living with a friend.  I was just starting to experience life as a single mother to three children. It was for sure known that Riley was special needs – she’d been seeing a specialist for months for her FTT.  He’d said the words “Russell-Silver Syndrome”, and we were beginning to look into autism.  We had just recently started Angel in Early Intervention because of her muscle tone – although we didn’t know the depth of that yet.

The day after Valentines I posted on the mommy forums I visited asking when it was appropriate to call a doctor for a cough.  Angel had developed a cough, very light and dry – but it was becoming more barky.  My first two kids hadn’t ever had a cough, so I didn’t know what to do.

A few days later I took her in.  The ped said it wasn’t in her chest, and not to worry.  Three days later the cough was worse.  I took her back in and we started with regular breathing treatments (every 4 hours) using albuterol.

For a month we went on that way.  Breathing treatments, doctor’s appointments.  We tested for Whooping Cough – we treated for asthma…we had no idea what was making our previously happy baby so miserable and coughy…

After a month of coughing without explanation our pediatrician referred us to a pulmonologist.  If anyone could find the cause – it would be her.

To be continued….