Bubsi has fallen sick again. Only this time it is not a simple cold, no. She suffers from obstructive bronchitis. I might want to rephrase that. We suffer from Bubsi’s bronchitis. Let’s face it, if the kid is sick and cranky, so are we. Maybe not sick, but definitely cranky 😉

How it all started

A week ago the Saturday, Bubsi started running a fever. A fairly high fever, at that, but as she was still running around happily I didn’t think much of it. The next day the coughing began. While it was a nasty cough and she had some congestion, Papa and I thought it was a simple cold. Winter had just come in, and she had been wearing fall shoes and clothes until we managed to go shopping. So it all made sense. Besides, Bubsi was still playing and wanting to go out.

The congestion made her breathing difficult, however. At night, the coughing was worse and she would literally cough herself awake. Not just a few times, but literally every half hour. While nursing would settle her back to sleep, I was dead. Plain and simple exhaustion. When the fevers started up again on day three and four, I thought that’s it, we see the doctor. Good thinking, as it turned out Bubsi had more than just a cold.

Diagnosed with Bronchitis

After quite some wait in the doctor’s office (yey sudden winter and sicknesses abound!), Bubsi was diagnosed with bronchitis. Bronchitis! I cannot recall ever suffering from that myself, actually. If the medication works, then we might be through with this sickness in two to four weeks. Does that only sound like an eternity to me? Anyhow, we were prescribed a special aerosol Bubsi needs to inhale four times a day, two times five breaths. For this purpose, we also received a special inhaler, the Pari. Bubsi loves the inhaling device, and plays with it all the time. The frog mask adapter is the best. In fact, she insists that she wants to do the inhaling all by herself.

In spite of her excitement about the inhaler, inhaling itself is not that easy. First of all, it is difficult to convince her she needs to let me help her. Then, even if I get her to take a breath with it, she stops right away. Only problem is we need ten breaths. Oh the joys! I do not want her to get scared of the device or to force her, as it would lead to a major breakdown and more fights. After all, we need to do it four times a day, and I couldn’t force her four times a day (how do you force breathing, anyhow?). So in the end, I decided to take the easy way out. The coward’s way, if you must. I let her watch Peppa Pig while we do it. It works wonders. But I dislike Peppa, especially the message the episodes send (the books are fine). So it is really unfortunate. But health first. And when only Peppa gets her to inhale, then Peppa it is. Until she is healthy again.

Bubsi’s new inhaler bug style