Baby's first cold (I think)

Yesterday, Oliver woke up sounded a little congested. I couldn't see anything in his nose but it definitely sounded like something was up there. He didn't have any trouble nursing and wasn't feverish, but was extra cuddly and mellow so I thought he may have the beginnings of a cold. By late afternoon, he sounded fine, and when John got home around 7pm, he was cooing and baby-talking up a storm. He slept from 10pm until 3am, woke up to nurse and went right back to sleep. So I figured whatever was going on had made its way out of his little body. Well, this is what I woke up to at 7am:

Oliver the piglet from Lindsay Zogas on Vimeo.

The horrible thoughts began to run through my mind... Oh no, Oliver has a cold. Or maybe pneumonia?? OHDEARGOD my baby has swine flu!!! Suddenly all the things I had learned in the baby care class, heard from friends, or experienced during my baby-sitting days had left my brain! I had no idea what to do. The first thought was to call his pediatrician. He'd want to hear if Oliver was sick, right? So I called the office and got the answering machine telling me they don't open until 9. Crap. What do I do for 2 hours? I tried to nurse him, but he couldn't latch on because he was trying to breathe through his mouth since his nose was totally stuffed. He fell asleep for a little bit and then woke up again crying and snorting. Nothing could soothe him! We were supposed to have coffee with a friend of mine from high school, Alicia, who had a baby a few weeks before me, so I called her to ask if we could reschedule. She also happens to be a nurse, so I asked her what to do. She said to turn on the shower in the bathroom and closed the door so it filled with steam, then hang out in there for 10-15 minutes so the gunk in Oliver's nose would get soft and I could suck it out with a bulb syringe. So I undressed my screaming baby and the moment we stepped in the steamy bathroom, he stopped crying. He was still snorting, but after 10 minutes I used the bulb syringe and sucked out a huge and gross glob of snot from Oliver's poor tiny nose. The second that booger left his nose, I had my happy baby back! The sniffles and snorts were totally gone and he was cooing and smiling up at me as if to say "Thank you Mommy!" He was still extra cuddly the rest of the day but overall seems much better. So who knows what all this was– a cold or just boogers in his nose?! Either way, I'm glad they're gone and I know what to do next time!