Rock and a Hard Place

How do you punish a little girl when the chain of events inevitably goes like this...being bad-> getting punished-> hysterical crying-> disastrous runny nose-> uncontrollable asthmatic coughing? As if that doesn't make it bad, she then intermittently says "I apologize", "I didn't mean to", and "I love you". Somehow, I feel like she may be the one in trouble, but Meggan and I suffer the most.