It could have been a lot worse

Last wednesday, big guy woke up with a terrible cough. At the time, I didn't think much of it, other than it was beginning the next round of illness. Later, when I picked big guy up from school, he was so grouchy and exhausted. The morning nap had apparently been interrupted by a fire drill. He was in bed and zonked out by 6:15! I noticed that he was snoring- which isn't unusual, he always snores, but that he was a bit louder.

As the hours progressed, he got progressively louder and then the snore turned into a honk, kind of like a goose. Hubs and I decided to go to bed early ( a good move!) From eight to ten at night, it got worse. He had also started coughing and then crying in his sleep. By ten, we had been waking up every ten minutes, so I got up to pee. As I walked by his crib, he stood up to cry and couldn't get anything out. OK, something was seriously wrong. My bubba couldn't breathe correctly!

We called the after hours nurse and she said to steam him, then cold air. And if that didn't work, as in he fell asleep and continued to wheeze, it was off to the ER. Guess what? We went to the ER. As soon as we saw the triage nurse, she knew it was croup- which is an inflammation of the upper respiratory system. So, not only do you cough, wheeze, and honk, but you also sound like you have a frog in your throat. The poor big guy!

Well, the big guy got a dose of steroids- though I am promised that his future professional baseball career will not be injured. We were there from about midnight to three am. And big guy was in good spirits. Flirting with the nurses and doctors. And for as awful as a reason that we were there, we had a great experience- everyone was nice and helpful.

Of course, it could have been a lot worse. Big guy is ok now. Although, both the hubs and I got laryngitis- which is adult croup. And I'm still getting my voice back a week later. Big guy is on the mend, preparing for his bday tomorrow! Bday party on sunday. 1 year appt on tuesday. And tubes on wednesday. So, we are chugging along.