Baby breathing, subcostal retractions :(

[dontcomeatme]

Need some advice I'm really unsure what to do at this point.
For context, I've had asthma since I was 7weeks old, I'm 32 now and still have it quite severely.
My DS2 was born via section 12 weeks ago. He was big born and I had gestational diabetes. They informed me the risk of the baby having asthma increased if I was diagnosed, plus having a section made it more likely.
When he was born the hole in his heart didn't close for 5 weeks, he was closely monitored and any signs of breathing difficulty were put down to this. The hole is 100% gone now though.
He had a "chest infection" at 6 weeks and was given antibiotics. I doubt it was a chest infection, I think the doctors just seen the retractions and gave me antibiotics to make me go away.
Basically he has been having subcostal retractions since he was born, on and off, almost like flare ups or episodes, along with wheezing, and fatigue. It is always worse when he's been excited or babbling or feeding. For example he loves the bath and kicks his little legs off, but then he struggles and is wheezy, fast breathing and the retractions worsen, then he sleeps for hours.
I have spoke to 2 different GPs and had him at A&E and no one is doing anything. Telling me that "because I had asthma it probably just made him a wheezy kid". The first time I noticed them I rushed him to A&E because that's the advice, I sat for 9 hours in a separate room because he hadn't had vaccinations, just for them to tell me to keep an eye on him and watch for his lips turning blue, then sent me home!!!!
You can't upload a video unfortunately so I've tried to take screenshots of his chest.
What do you all think it could be? Does this seem like asthma ? Anyone else experienced this?
I have a lovely GP I'm going to book him to see, but she's been off work with her sick DC that's why we saw all the others instead.
He is on the 99centile, ebf, happy little thing. We struggled with colic but seem to be coming to the end of that now. I just dont know what to do for him.
Ironically I asked a random doctor tonight what to do if a baby is in respiratory distress with retractions and he said to go straight to A&E 😑

Yes! The last GP I seen said his breathing was "borderline normal rate" and then said something to the other doctor about mottled skin and when I asked she said "well sometimes babies skin can appear mottled but it's fine". I didn't think anything of it at the time?
He was referred to a specialist baby unit for his heart, I would name it but very outing. He was quickly discharged after his scan apparently showed the hole was gone. Could it still be his heart causing the issues?

Thank you ☺️

For us it’s any respiratory virus and they develop bronchiolitis and / or a wheeze with oxygen levels usually dropping to circa 85-87. It just goes straight to their chest and they struggle to breathe.

My preschooler is much better since he’s been on a brown inhaler but my younger one is too young to be on it. But save for my older one since the brown inhaler, I don’t think they’ve had a single cold where they’ve not ended in hospital. Genuinely lost count at the number of admissions they’ve have had. We had a follow up for my toddler the other day and the doctor wanted to know about all his episodes and admissions and I actually forgot half of them!

I don’t think many parents really understand the stress and anxiety it causes. The second I see a child near them coughing or with a runny nose, my heart drops!

Not sure how old your little is - DD was prescribed 100mcg clenill twice daily from 12 months, DS was older, think he was about 20 months, and 50mcg. Both younger than 2 but there was some discussion for both and it was deemed essential. DS is just about to start school and it’s just been increased to 100mcg as he was starting to struggle. Think DD getting it so early prevented a lot of the difficulties DS had.

OP hope little one is doing ok

I'm going to ask my DM today when I was given an Inhaler. I know I had my first attack at 7weeks old and got admitted, then they just got worse after that. I had my own nebuliser and my DM always said from a young age I knew when I needed my Inhaler I could feel it and would ask for it. I'm so glad your DD got given some medication early, its a horrible worry watching them go through this!

@Qwickwit these images are quite mild today, but would you class this as mottled?

Didnt attach one of the photos 🤦🏻‍♀️

Not always , my child got discharged once he could stay at 92 for a long period of time.

I wouldn't be astronomically concerned by that mottling in isolation, like one doctor said babies can sometimes be slightly mottled and that doesn't look too drastic (I will see if I can dig out a photo of mottling on a "cardiac baby" for comparison, but as part of the history I don't think it would be unreasonable to ask the question and perhaps arrange an echo to rule it out. There's also lots of other things it could be in terms of airway or breathing, especially if there is a strong family history, but cardiac issues do often affect breathing and so I would ask.

If your gp is reluctant (or if you're in a&e and feel you aren't being listened to) I find it can really help to phrase your questions as "I am concerned about X and was wondering if we could/explore y" , and if they say they don't think it's necessary, instead of arguing, present it as "ok, please could you explain to me what you are/are not seeing in my child that has led you to that decision?". You achieve one of 2 things, you either get some insight into their clinical rationale which hopefully provides some reassurance (eg, I don't think it's cardiac/I don't think this breathing pattern requires immediate admission because we haven't got x y or z, or because we do still have a b or c, or I would expect to see etc) in which case you can either ask more questions if you are unclear about something that has underpinned their decision, or the other option is they realise that they have perhaps been led by assumptions and not the clinical picture in front of them. The other one I use in a&e a lot when they tell me they aren't concerned is "ok, I appreciate that we aren't at the threshold for you to be concerned, can you please let me know at what point you would want me to represent if there is no improvement" - it means you can either stop running back to the hospital every time if they aren't going to do anything, or again, can make them stop and think about whether they are making the right decision. All medical decisions are meant to be clinical judgements so no HCP worth their salt should shy away from or be offended when asked to "show their workings".

Thank you this is all extremely helpful! I find A&E so hard, we're supposed to trust the HCP but you're right I need to ask them to "show their workings".
I love the phrasing of these questions and will definitely be using them. Every time he is seen everything is always "borderline", which is fine in isolation, but when multiple things are "borderline" it makes you start to wonder, surely it wouldn't take much to tip the scales, especially in something such as asthma for example. Thank you for all of your advice and help I deeply appreciate it. I'm going to contact the unit he was in for his heart and also chase up his paeds appointment 🙏