There's nothing worse for a parent than seeing your child suffer. Whether it's physically, emotionally, or mentally, parents never want to see their kids struggle.
One of the toughest things to deal with is having a sick baby. When they're too young to talk, you can't know what's really wrong with them, since they can't express it to you.
Plus, babies can't take care of themselves when they're sick. They can't blow their own noses or get a glass of water, or even ask for medicine. All they can do is cry and hope their parents figure out what's wrong.
Beth Foster recently had to deal with the challenges of having a sick infant when her daughter Myah came down with what seemed like a cold.
A few days later, Myah had a coughing fit and her face turned purple. Beth immediately sought care, and that's when doctors told her that Myah had bronchiolitis.
[H/T: Romper]
Beth shared what happened on her Facebook page, where it got a lot of attention.
Within just four days, the post had over 6,000 reactions and almost 23,000 shares.
Beth wrote:
Parents with baby/small children.
Please be aware of bronchiolitis this winter, its so easily missed and so bloody dangerous.
It starts with just a simple cough and cold and can turn to so much more within hours.
Myah was using muscles in her tummy to help her to breath that she shouldn't even be using to breath.
I’ve never seen a babys tummy pumping so fast fighting for the breaths, and I’ve never been so scared.
I took her to the doctor on Tuesday and he prescribed some eye drops for a gunky eye, at that point she wasnt struggling.
On Saturday whilst at a Christmas party she had a coughing fit and her face turned purple for around 15 seconds.
I phoned 111 who got us an out of hours aptmt in which the doctor sent us straight to the hospital.
When I arrived they checked Myahs sats and 3 nurses ran off with her to immediately get her straight on oxygen, I was told theyre surprised she didnt end up in an ambulance.
We had no clue how serious this all was until that point.
Shes 6 weeks old today, and we’re looking at anything between 3 & 7 days in hospital hooked up to lots of machines, on the high dependency unit in the childrens ward, on oxygen, feeding tubes and having to be sedated just to get some sleep.
There is nothing more heart breaking.
Even if your baby has a slight cough or cold, just get checked out.
Please spread awareness as before all this we didnt even know what bronchiolitis was.
According to the Mayo Clinic:
Bronchiolitis is a common lung infection in young children and infants. It causes inflammation and congestion in the small airways (bronchioles) of the lung. Bronchiolitis is almost always caused by a virus… Bronchiolitis starts out with symptoms similar to those of a common cold but then progresses to coughing, wheezing and sometimes difficulty breathing.
Please SHARE this article with your friends to spread awareness about bronchiolitis!