Croup
Well, We almost made it the whole month of May without making a trip to the doctor's office or the ER. Last night I was awoken at 1:08AM by a horrible gasping sound. It sounded as though one of the boys was drowning & trying to come up for air. I immediately ran into Charlie's room b/c he is the one with the history of breathing problems. To my shock this horrible sound was not coming from Charlie, but instead from John Christian's room.
When I got into John Christian's room he was barking like a seal to the point where he was almost vomiting. In between the barks he was struggling to breath. There was wheezing in his chest, a whistling sound from his throat with each breath, shaking, & he began to cry a very raspy horse cry, and sadly looked at me panicked about why he was feeling this way. "Mommy, Mommy", he raspily gasped. I scooped him up out of the crib & frantically tried to remember what I was supposed to do to help him breath. I even contemplated calling 911 because it was that scary.
The first thing I did was run to the back door in hopes that the cool night air would help. It's been cold here the past few nights, but of course last night it was humid & muggy due to the late evening rain. After a few moments that seemed like an hour I yelled for Zach to wake up & get Charlie's nebulizer. I didn't think I should use it, but at the moment I was grasping as straws. After Zach found the nebulizer I passed John Christian who was still hysterical & gasping for breath off to him while I frantically looked for the pediatrician's phone #. I can remember phone numbers. It's one of my talents. However, last night I couldn't seem to remember anything. I finally located the number & called the advice nurse at the pediatrician's office. She wasn't very friendly & that really irritated me, but I didn't have time deal with that. Her suggestion was to take him outside which I already had. Then, she told me to open the freezer & have him breath in the cold air. I'm sure this works for many people, but it was not the best idea for my 2 & 1/2 year old little boy b/c all this did was freak him out even more. I can only imagine the thoughts running through that big brain of his.... "It's the middle of the night. I can't breath & my mommy & daddy are sticking my head in the freezer. These people are nuts. These people are trying to kill me!" Poor John Christian.
I finally got frustrated with the nurse & she told me to take him into the Emergency Room if I couldn't keep his head in the freezer. I packed John Christian's pillow with a few trains, some socks, a change of clothes, diapers, & books. Then, we were off at 1:30AM to spend a fun filled night at the local ER.
The drive to the Pediatric ER was difficult b/c John Christian was in the carseat behind me & there was nothing I could really do to console him. Normally, it takes 25 minutes to get to the ER, but luckily we hit lots of green lights & I made it in under 15. The ER was just as I suspected. It was filled with small children younger than John Christian & the ER workers were not very friendly. It was a good thing I came prepared with books & trains b/c I was able to entertain John Christian & another child who was being somewhat ignored.
The Triage nurse was quick to diagnose John Christian. She corrected anything I said & gave me a lesson in all of the proper technical medical terms. No offense, but at 2AM on a Saturday night when my kid can't breath the only thing I really cared about was that they fixed him! Critique my description of his symptoms later.
By 2:30 we saw a doctor. It was the same ER Doc we saw when John Christian was border line dehydrated with the ROTA Virus. I wasn't fond of him then & last night wasn't any better. I get he was busy, but he honestly spent about 2 1/2 minutes in the room with us, left, & never came back. He sent in a guy to hook up a breathing treatment. That guy seemed a little irritated with the dr. Then, he left while the breathing treatment was going & never returned. 45 minutes after the breathing treatment had started (it was only a 5 - 10 minute treatment) I got up & asked a nurse to unhook the mask from the wall. Then, we sat & waited. At 5AM a nurse finally came to check on us. I told her the dr mentioned a steroid & that no one had been in since the breathing treatment began at 2:40AM. This was the same nurse we had in triage & she still wasn't in a very good mood. Anyway, she let him take the oral steroid, gave us our discharge papers, & sent us on our way. We were instructed to come back if the symptoms get that bad again.
We made it home a little after 5:30AM. John Christian finally fell asleep around 6AM & slept until sometime after noon. I was so glad that Zach was at home & able to get up with Charlie this morning! I managed to sleep until 10:30. It has been a long day. John Christian sounds better, but is very moody & emotional. In addition to his virus he is cutting his bottom left molar. Charlie is cutting his bottom right tooth. Fun stuff!
As Scarlet would say, "After all tomorrow is another day." We'll see. I've packed bags for both of the boys. One for John Christian in case we need to go back to the hospital & one for Charlie b/c I will need to drop him off at Jamia's if we go back to the ER. Either way this should be an interesting week. Zach had to go into work tonight & will be gone all week. John Christian always has a hard time adjusting when Zach is gone. He is quite the daddy's boy!
I am off to say a little prayer that my children feel better, my husband is safe, & that I get a little sleep! Goodnight!
When I got into John Christian's room he was barking like a seal to the point where he was almost vomiting. In between the barks he was struggling to breath. There was wheezing in his chest, a whistling sound from his throat with each breath, shaking, & he began to cry a very raspy horse cry, and sadly looked at me panicked about why he was feeling this way. "Mommy, Mommy", he raspily gasped. I scooped him up out of the crib & frantically tried to remember what I was supposed to do to help him breath. I even contemplated calling 911 because it was that scary.
The first thing I did was run to the back door in hopes that the cool night air would help. It's been cold here the past few nights, but of course last night it was humid & muggy due to the late evening rain. After a few moments that seemed like an hour I yelled for Zach to wake up & get Charlie's nebulizer. I didn't think I should use it, but at the moment I was grasping as straws. After Zach found the nebulizer I passed John Christian who was still hysterical & gasping for breath off to him while I frantically looked for the pediatrician's phone #. I can remember phone numbers. It's one of my talents. However, last night I couldn't seem to remember anything. I finally located the number & called the advice nurse at the pediatrician's office. She wasn't very friendly & that really irritated me, but I didn't have time deal with that. Her suggestion was to take him outside which I already had. Then, she told me to open the freezer & have him breath in the cold air. I'm sure this works for many people, but it was not the best idea for my 2 & 1/2 year old little boy b/c all this did was freak him out even more. I can only imagine the thoughts running through that big brain of his.... "It's the middle of the night. I can't breath & my mommy & daddy are sticking my head in the freezer. These people are nuts. These people are trying to kill me!" Poor John Christian.
I finally got frustrated with the nurse & she told me to take him into the Emergency Room if I couldn't keep his head in the freezer. I packed John Christian's pillow with a few trains, some socks, a change of clothes, diapers, & books. Then, we were off at 1:30AM to spend a fun filled night at the local ER.
The drive to the Pediatric ER was difficult b/c John Christian was in the carseat behind me & there was nothing I could really do to console him. Normally, it takes 25 minutes to get to the ER, but luckily we hit lots of green lights & I made it in under 15. The ER was just as I suspected. It was filled with small children younger than John Christian & the ER workers were not very friendly. It was a good thing I came prepared with books & trains b/c I was able to entertain John Christian & another child who was being somewhat ignored.
The Triage nurse was quick to diagnose John Christian. She corrected anything I said & gave me a lesson in all of the proper technical medical terms. No offense, but at 2AM on a Saturday night when my kid can't breath the only thing I really cared about was that they fixed him! Critique my description of his symptoms later.
By 2:30 we saw a doctor. It was the same ER Doc we saw when John Christian was border line dehydrated with the ROTA Virus. I wasn't fond of him then & last night wasn't any better. I get he was busy, but he honestly spent about 2 1/2 minutes in the room with us, left, & never came back. He sent in a guy to hook up a breathing treatment. That guy seemed a little irritated with the dr. Then, he left while the breathing treatment was going & never returned. 45 minutes after the breathing treatment had started (it was only a 5 - 10 minute treatment) I got up & asked a nurse to unhook the mask from the wall. Then, we sat & waited. At 5AM a nurse finally came to check on us. I told her the dr mentioned a steroid & that no one had been in since the breathing treatment began at 2:40AM. This was the same nurse we had in triage & she still wasn't in a very good mood. Anyway, she let him take the oral steroid, gave us our discharge papers, & sent us on our way. We were instructed to come back if the symptoms get that bad again.
We made it home a little after 5:30AM. John Christian finally fell asleep around 6AM & slept until sometime after noon. I was so glad that Zach was at home & able to get up with Charlie this morning! I managed to sleep until 10:30. It has been a long day. John Christian sounds better, but is very moody & emotional. In addition to his virus he is cutting his bottom left molar. Charlie is cutting his bottom right tooth. Fun stuff!
As Scarlet would say, "After all tomorrow is another day." We'll see. I've packed bags for both of the boys. One for John Christian in case we need to go back to the hospital & one for Charlie b/c I will need to drop him off at Jamia's if we go back to the ER. Either way this should be an interesting week. Zach had to go into work tonight & will be gone all week. John Christian always has a hard time adjusting when Zach is gone. He is quite the daddy's boy!
I am off to say a little prayer that my children feel better, my husband is safe, & that I get a little sleep! Goodnight!
posted by Rebecca at 9:07 AM
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