Trifecta

Last week Ryder started to develop a nasty cough and a slight wheeze.  The weather has been crazy here lately, so I wasn't totally surprised that his breathing was starting to worsen.  I was a little more concerned than normal, because Eric and I had started to notice that his breathing was being affected by more than the weather changes.  When Ryder runs, or wrestles with Savannah, or jumps a lot… basically anything that requires some physical activity, his breathing gets wheezy and he coughs uncontrollably.  That is never a good sign.  So I was not totally shocked when I took Ryder to the doctor and after a quick exam I was told that they were officially diagnosing him as asthmatic.  Up until now they attributed most of his breathing issues with seasonal junk (that is all Savannah ever had to deal with), however, his breathing issues have become much more serious and not as easy to fix.  With the seasonal junk they do breathing treatments and that typically clears everything up.  We are at the point where breathing treatments help, but don't completely clear up the issue.  Soooo, we now have a preventative inhaler that we will use twice daily for the foreseeable future.  This will hopefully help his airways open up and stay open for the little guy.  We will also be given a rescue inhaler to use in emergency asthma attack situations.  I am trying to be as optimistic as possible about these results.  Ryder hates the inhaler and it is a struggle to get him to use it.  Once he is used to it, I am sure it will get easier.   Poor little guy, a member of the "trifecta club" his doctor called it… food allergies, eczema, and now asthma.  Boo.

Ryder's inhaler, spacer, and mask.  He is still too little to take an inhaler the normal way.  So we have this tube thing (a spacer) and a mask that he uses to make it easier and insure that he gets the medicine.

On a happier note… we had a pretty fun weekend despite having to deal with Ryder's new daily treatment schedule.  Savannah had friends over… lot's of swimming happened… and of course, dinner was grilled every night!

Eric got me this squirrel feeder for Mother's Day.  It is seriously the most entertaining thing.  The kids and I love watching the squirrels come eat.  I am hoping that now that they have their own food they will stay out of my bird feeders.