Is that a drowning seal or my baby?

Charlie's been battling a virus all week.  It started out as just a fever, then progressed into the most pathetic, tragic sounding cough I've ever heard.  In Rick's words, "I feel like I'm suffocating listening to him cough."  Ugh.  Breaks your heart.  If you close your eyes you'd swear a seal was drowning in our bedroom.

The past few days have been rough, but last night was a whole new kind of terrible.  He was a wheezing, sniffling, coughing mess which doesn't result in good sleep or any sleep at all for that matter.  Laying flat on his back in his crib isn't an option, so we've been putting him in his swing.  He would fall asleep for 30 minutes or so and then his cough would wake him up, induce crying, which would induce more coughing.  This became a vicious cycle.  Up until this point in his life I was so proud of what an independent sleeper he's been.  He's great at falling asleep in his crib and doesn't need to be rocked.  This backfired last night when all I wanted him to do was fall asleep in my arms.  He kept looking at me with eyes (and those infamous expressive eyebrows) that said, "What are you doing?  I don't sleep here lady."  No matter how late it got, he refused to fall asleep in my arms.  At one point, around 4:00 am, during one of our multiple trips to the bathroom for a hot shower steam treatment, he fell asleep sitting cross-legged in my arms.  At first I panicked thinking he'd passed out from the heat only to realize he'd finally given in to his sheer exhaustion.  The sleep was short lived.  As soon as we left the bathroom he eyes shot open and we were back to square one.  I will say the kid's hair and humidity do not mix.  He entered the bathroom a distinguished businessman and left looking more like Carrot Top than Donald Trump.  I guess that was an indication of what he'll look like on our vacation with Rick's family in Florida!

Things are always more manageable in day light.  He's still coughing up a lung and has added sneezing snot rockets to the list (gross).  But he's also played a bit and has slept a bit better.  I'm praying tonight is better and not worse.  Rick picked up a prescription for a steroid the doctor prescribed Charlie yesterday with the warning that the side effects of the medicine could be worse than the symptoms he's experiencing now.  Sigh.  For now, we're playing it by ear.  The last thing I want to do is give him a steroid that causes him to be jittery and unable to rest.  Hopefully, tonight is better and we all get a bit of sleep.

Here are a few pictures I took of him yesterday before his cough got really bad.