Charlotte started with a dry cough last wednesday. I called the Dr. and they said just to run the humidifier. Thursday, she wouldn't sleep well, and kept coughing through the night. I thought maybe it was allergies because our house is so dusty. We took her to the Dr.s Friday morning, and of course when we went in she didn't cough once and had no signs of congestion. He told us keep the humidifier running, watch for fever. By Saturday she was in bad shape. Coughing constantly, sneezing, watery eyes, runny nose and tired. She was back to her normal self on Monday, but last night she started to get congested again and I can hear it rumbling around in her chest, she had trouble sleeping last night (didn't go down to 2am, but then slept till 9:30). She's not coughing as much so she's not getting it out. (I'm also sick with the same thing now too)
Half my gut says, it's just a cold, and it will pass. Exposing her to the other sick kids in the waiting room just to hear the Dr. say that I'm already doing all I can is pointless. The other half says, take her in, you never know. This is when being a first time mom is really difficult!
Re: Mommies...WWYD?
When Mary was first born they said if it turned into a cough to come in right away. I don't know if they meant because she was a NB or because coughs are bad.
But I would proabably take Mary in. I am paranoid like that.
When Sarah had her coughs, especially the ones with congestion, we would run the (cool mist) humidifier at night. We'd also slightly raise one end of her crib mattress (stuck a pillow under there) so her head is raised. That seemed to help too (at least until she got to the point where she started spinning in her crib and her feet would be "up"). Her humidifier has a spot to put a Vicks pad so it gets in the air for her breathe in. I"ve also used pediatric Vicks rub on her chest - just a little bit which works, too.
Good luck! I hope you both feel better soon!