He has been fighting a cough for the last couple of weeks and has progressively gotten worse as the weeks have gone by. I took him to the Dr Monday of last week and he was put on amoxacillin to see if it would help with the cough. A week of antibiotics hadn't even touched his cough and he was getting worse so I took him back again Monday of this week (1/26) He was tortured I mean tested for RSV which is a really bad respiratory virus that is SUPER contagious. He tested negative but Dr Olson wanted to check to see if he had anything in his lungs so we had to get x-rays done also. This was pretty much the worse thing I ever had to watch. They put him in this contraption that made him sit still and the girl held his arms above his head. He screamed and turned bright red. As soon as he was finished I got to run over and comfort him. I of course had a lump in my throat and my stomach was up in my neck the whole time because all I could do is watch. He had big crocodile tears in his eyes and sniffled for a while after that. Once we picked up the x-rays it was back to Dr Olson so he could look them over. Again, nothing. His lungs were clear but he still had an awful cough. He sent us home and said to keep him on the antibiotics. So we headed home and hoped for the best. All the while we are getting news of how our weather is getting worse and worse and how this was going to be "the storm of the year." Right on schedule the sleet and freezing rain started to fall Monday afternoon. Tuesday we woke up to a nice thick layer of ice on everything. I took the day off because the outer road I take to work I assumed was terrible and I didn't really want to get Stratton out in the cold weather any more then he had to be.
Tuesday was when we really got all the ice and freezing rain of course this was the day that we decided to take Stratton to the E.R. I called Cathy Schloss (my building blocks lady) and asked her what I should do about Stratton's cough and the fact that he was starting to wheeze. She said I could try steam or go on up to the E.R. It was a good idea that we decided to go to the E.R. because his oxygen level was around 86%. It should be around 96%. They started him on some breathing treatments and tested him for RSV again. Again the tests were negative. They called Dr Olson to see if they should admit him or release him and he decided it would be best to watch him overnight to make sure he didn't crash. Within a few breathing treatments you could tell he was starting to feel much better. He was my happy Strat baby again. My mom met Derek and I at the E.R. and she stayed with us until around 1 or so. Derek headed home since he had to work the next day. I stayed with the little guy and slept on the "love seat." The nurses failed to tell me that the "love seat" was actually a fold out couch. So I crunched up on the "love seat" with Stratton all night and tried to get as much sleep as I could. All the while the weather got worse. Rapco closed for the day on Wednesday which was a blessing since we stayed over night and didn't get to leave until 6 p.m. yesterday (Wednesday). My mom came back up in the morning and relieved me from baby duty for a while so I could catch up on my rest. Dr Olson recommended we start doing at home breathing treatments for him every 4-6 hours. So far he has been doing really well with them. The first time we did the at home treatment the noise scared him and I just had to reassure him that it was ok. He smiled once he knew everything was ok and even grabbed at the hose and stuck the inhaler part in his mouth. I don't think he minds it now. So...the little guy is doing better...I'm super tired from lack of sleep....but he is in fact doing much better so far.
I'll keep you all updated on his status if anything changes.
Here's some pics of the cutie while he was up at the hospital.
He was really clingy to me, Derek and my mom. Anytime you put him down he would cry. I think he was a little scared while we were in his room. 
Tummy Time!!! He looks so cute in this picture. He definitely gets this looks from his daddy. 
Can you tell he's teething? He slobbers ALL the time now. 
He is starting to push up on his arms now. He's getting to be such a big boy! 
Mom and Dad were just a LITTLE bit tired. 
He slept like this on my chest all night long. 
Mom trying to get some sleep too while the little guy was sleeping. 
He didn't seem very sick while he was smiling. He loved his duck while we were up there. It gave him something to look at and focus on while he was getting his breathing treatments. 
This was one of the first pictures we took. He was super tired and you could just tell he didn't feel well at all. 
Again with the teething. He chews on his fingers now. The only bad thing is that he doesn't know how far to stop shoving them in his mouth so he gags himself all the time. 
My boys!