Croup

Here's a fun new development in our household...croup. Even though Tyson only goes to daycare an average of 2 days a week, he still seems to catch everything that goes through there so we weren't surprised when he had yet another runny nose and cough. We fired up the old humidifier and prayed (usually fruitlessly) to have this bug pass by without everyone in the house getting sick. Last night he woke up after about 3 hours of sleep 'coughing' (I use that term loosely because he sounded like a seal barking) and struggling to breath. It sounded like his airway was shutting everytime he would get upset. Immediately that nurse adrenaline kicked in...however, it was a real kick in the pants to find that when it's your own child, any previous knowledge base on what to do flies out the window. So adrenaline - knowledge = pacing around the house like a crazy cat. I called a couple of friends to see what they would do and ended up calling the pediatrician on call anyway just to be sure. I have a hard time finding the balance between becoming "that mom" who rushes to the emergency room for anything everything and the lady who waits way too long. He asked a few questions and gave us some suggestions on things to try and told us that if those things didn't work we needed to come right in. Luckily a few minutes bundled up outside in the cold night air helped ease the inflammation in his airway (turns out that's not a wives tale) and an industrial strength snot sucking bulb syringe did the job. It was still a rough night but at least everything turned out okay. I hate croup. It's crazy scary listening to your child gasping for air and adding even more sleep deprivation to this household is no fun. Here's to hoping tonight is better. We were both way too tired and Tyson was way too crabby (well maybe we both were) to take any pictures today. However, I hate to disappoint so I attached one that I took a week or so ago that makes me laugh...it's yet another picture of Tyson's poop face. I realize that this may be somewhat offensive and completely embarrassing to him in a few years...yet I continue:)