Vocal Cords

Besides the girls using their vocal cords to sling insults and scream of unfairness, we've never had much dysfunction concerning them around here.  Until Cinderella was having these really weird attacks where she felt like she couldn't breath, although it seemed that she was breathing fine.  And she'd occasionally, while at rest, make this weird almost wheezing sound.  So, we took her to a pediatric pulmonary expert, where they ran all kids of tests to try to ruin her lung function and figure out what was going on.  Turns out, she has Vocal Cord Dysfunction (a mild case), which actually appears to be a bit like asthma, but is in fact a condition in which the vocal cords don't relax after speaking, so do not let the air flow freely. 

I had never heard of this condition before.  It was a bit concerning, after reading some things about it, but after a follow-up with an ENT and a quick look via camera up the nose and down the throat (sounds gross, but she was a trooper, and actually thought it was cool to look down her throat) we are assured that she shouldn't really have too many problems.  She can learn to relax when it gets that way, and will probably grow out of it. 

In the meantime, we are encouraging her to use her "inside voice", like we did when she was a preschooler.  So she doesn't exacerbate her condition.  It's not true that this has any effect, but it's worth a try for more sibling peace around this place.  :)