Not What I Was Hoping For...

As I am typing this, my sweet baby girl is sitting on my lap, having her second breathing treatment of the day. When we went to the pulmonologist last Monday, Sweet Pea had picked up cough and congestion that Turkey Butt brought home from school (BTW, he now has a full blown sinus infection). After lengthy discussions regarding her health right now, the fact that she is always on the verge of being sick when this is one of the most healthy times for MOST people, her health a month ago (an ear infection), and coming to the conclusion that she is her best when she has had a full course of antibiotics, it has been determined that we will be doing preventative antibiotic therapy from now until the end of the cold and flu season. This is really not the news that I thought we were going to hear, but it truly makes sense. Even though her immunity is better, her IgA levels (this is her first line of defense, the secretions in her nose and saliva that are supposed to fight off infections) are low. So, she still manages to come down with bacterial infections and spends most of the time on the fine line of being sick and well, but NEVER completely well. So, we started a full round of Zithromax to get her over her current infection and we will do breathing treatments 3 times daily until she has been symptom free for a week (which will be until next Friday). After that, we'll have to continue with Zithromax 3 times a week and breathing treatments 2 times a day until we make it through the winter sickness season. I am very nervous about all of this...I am worried about her building a resistance to antibiotics and the digestive issues that come from constantly being on antibiotics. Not to mention the fact that she has spent the last 4 months of her life inhaling Xopenex and Pulmicort on a regular basis...I just pray that this is the route we are meant to take and that the side-effects (both short term and long term) will be minimal. We've really tried to minimize her exposure to places where she could be exposed to germs. We don't go to church, we don't take her to the gym. I wipe everything down with antibacterial wipes before she uses things like highchairs and shopping carts. I don't know what else to do.
So, this is where we stand for now, praying that this is the route to take to keep my baby girl well....