Why all the coughing?????

How many times during the past 2 weeks have Jeremy and I been stirred out of sleep by Stephen coughing? For how many months this year will his nagging cough continue? What other type of medicine could we try? Feel the frustration?...it's there (in the form of exhaustion). About every other month, Stephen gets "the cough." We take him to the Dr., they "diagnose" him with this sickness or that, he continually gets worse, they put him on steroids, and it finally goes away (only to return the next month). Just recently we had another bout with him coughing. I took him to the Dr. last Thursday before we went out of town, because the cough had started up again. I didn't want to get to the beach, and then it get worse. My $15 copay only got me the "It's no big deal; just a cold; give it time to pass." Agreed...until the cough worsened while we were gone. This past Monday, the day after we got home, Caleb thankfully had his 9 month check-up. He, by the way, is in the 75% in weight and 93% in height. He's only 7 inches shorter than Stephen. Anyways, Stephen went with us to Caleb' appointment, and the nurse immediately picked up on the fact that Stephen's cough had worsened since she last saw him. A new Dr. was on call, and he checked Stephen over as they usually do. He asked Jeremy and I questions, and I'm sure he could sense the frustration in our voices. I'm not sure if I'm relieved by his conclusion or concerned, but this Dr. believes that Stephen has asthma. He can't officially diagnose him with it til he gets older, but that's his best guess right now. He also said that he may grow out of it. They gave us an inhaler, which Stephen uses each night before bed. We can also use it during the day as needed. His cough has gotten better, and we have gotten a little more sleep. Stephen does great with the inhaler. It's actually connected to a face mask, and he thinks it's so cool that he can't see the medicine! We have "blowing" contest in the little tube that connects the inhaler and face mask. Hopefully, this will help, and it seems to already. Just another bump in the road, but hey, no big deal! We're just thankful to have him!=)