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The Mother Who Loved Whooping Cough
Her kids were her breeding ground
She had three children — the youngest only nine months old — when her family was hit with whooping cough (pertussis). The bacterial infection is especially dangerous for babies and youngsters.
It happened in 2014, starting with the oldest, a six-year-old, and spreading to the three-year-old and the baby. There were times the mom became alarmed at the intensity of the coughing. Pertussis is known to cause coughing so violent that children can break ribs, burst blood vessels, and pass out. The characteristic “whoop” sound happens when attempting to breathe during a severe coughing attack.
This mother chronicled her family’s pertussis experience on a forum called Like-Minded Mamas. It was a website for sharing natural health remedies and wellness advice. The site no longer exists but someone saved because it was so astounding.
The post includes this quote about her six-year-old: “She would wake in the middle of the night, multiple times a night, coughing so hard that she would puke over the side of her loft bed, followed by turning purple and then finally gasping for air.” It was much the same for her three-year-old, who had screaming and crying fits and then coughed until he vomited. Mom says, “He was genuinely terrified each…
