The Croupy-Crud

Tuesday night at about 10:15pm, Rosie woke up with the classic croup cough - the seal bark.  She has had this before so we knew what to do - Marc started a hot shower and Rosie and I sat in the steam for a while.  But this time, it didn't make the cough any better and her breathing wasn't normal.  She had a bad wheeze and seemed to be having a little trouble breathing.  I called our doctor and he said we should go ahead and head to the ER. So we did.

 

Once we arrived, we didn't have to wait long.  Not that Rosie minded.  She was happy to be there!

 

 

After the nurse saw us and heard Rosie's breathing, he sent us on back to a room.  Another nurse came in immediately and the doctor was in our room within a couple of minutes.  I was really impressed with the promptness and attentiveness.  The ER doc confirmed croup and stridor - the harsh sound with breathing - and prescribed a breathing treatment and a shot of steroids.

 

They put Rosie in a hospital gown but she had no interest in wearing it. And thank goodness I brought the iPad to keep her occupied!

 

Rosie was NOT a fan of the breathing treatment.  I held her while the respiratory nurse administered it. She screamed and tried to push it away until I started showing her videos of her and Charlie on the phone.  That calmed her down and when she saw Charlie, she even smiled. 

 

But then came the shot.  Oh, the humanity!

 

Then we waited to see if the stridor cleared up enough for us to go home or if we needed to be admitted. At this point is was about 1am.  Rosie was still awake but was starting to get a little sleepy.

Finally it was determined we could go home. And that was good, because Rosie was ready to leave!  I had brought a sippy cup with water, but Miss Thing wanted milk and she ripped off her oxygen monitor.  Then I offered her graham crackers instead of veggie straws and the entire hall heard about it. And she would not put her pjs back on but did want to wear her shoes so I had to negotiate one item of clothing per shoe.  2am did nothing to dampen her fiesty-ness.

 

Finally we made it home, where she croupy-coughed all night, but not nearly as bad.  And last night, while she coughed, there was no sign of croup. I am so happy she is better and I am hoping for more sleep for all of us tonight!