Poor AN

An's cough had just gotten worse about 3.5hrs ago. From 5pm, she started coughing almost non stop. She was still active and cheerful, and video-conferencing with my parents, dancing for them as she coughed. I think it tired her out more as time went by and when it was time dot dinner, her cough got so strong and bad her food came back out twice. Poor AN... She was not refusing dinner but her cough would not allow her to swallow... :(

Thank God I found a bottle of herbal cough mixture from drugstore.com that I bought months earlier. They no longer sell Tylenol for toddlers her age over the counter and we bought her something for older kids (from age 6) and fed her 1/3 of that recommended dosage. I was not very at ease with feeding her that but I will do anything to make her feel more comfortable. After reading about these Cold syrups sold over the counters possibly causing side effecs to kids below 6, I started ransacking the cabinets for miracles... and Thank God I found that forgotten bottle of temporary cold relief. It's all made up of herbal and natural ingredients (flowers and roots) and suitable for babies from 4 months!

I know many of you will wonder why I 'self medicate' her. I do not wish to but the doctors here usually end up 'recommending' over the counter medications after the consultation. When we first came and AN had fever in June 2008, the doctor we took her to said we could get Tylenol from Walmart for her. Just those few words! Our first cultural shock. Unlike doctors in Sgp, unless you seriously need something that's not sold over the counter, they do not prescribe.

AN wanted to suckle for comfort. The poor baby has gotten so traumatized by the coughing (so bad she couldn't even finish saying "I want mem mem") and had to tap on my chest to tell me she wanted to suckle. But there was no way she could suckle with all the coughing.

I've fed her the 3rd dose so far (20mins apart). She did manage to fall asleep after the 2nd dose (not because this cause drowsiness but coz she is seriously tired) but woke up abt 20 mine later coz the coughing spell came back.

We will be bringing her to see Dr Bean tomorrow in case there's something more than just a cold she's having.