Owen has croup! :( Wikipedia describes croup as this:
It is characterized by a barking cough; a whistling, obstructive sound (stridor) as the child breathes in; and hoarseness due to obstruction in the region of the larynx. It may be mild, moderate or severe, and severe cases, with breathing difficulty, can be fatal if not treated in a hospital.
So, we spent 4 hours in the ER last night (well, 3ish hours there and another 1ish getting there and home). Triage put us first of everyone in the waiting room and it STILL took that long. Owen woke up at 10 screaming and having trouble breathing. Dan and I have never been so scared...ever...not even that time I woke up in an Amazonian jungle camp with a tarantula hanging on the ceiling above my head!! Luckily, the triage nurse could tell right away that it was croup, so we felt a little better right when we got there. But, of course, then we had to wait. And wait and wait and wait. Owen had to get chest and neck x-rays to rule out any other problems, and that was the worst part. We had to hold him down, naked in a strange room, and he wanted NONE of that. That was the worst thing we've gone through...Dan had to hold him down, I had to wait behind a lead wall, and Owen didn't understand any of it. You can't blame the kid. It was the middle of the night, he couldn't breathe right, we strapped him into the car, took him to a crazy place, made him go through scary tests, and then we had to WAIT. At 1:30ish, the doctor asked if we wanted to wait a few more hours for observation, but we just wanted to go home.
Anyway, we've made it through the first full day. Owen is (kind of) sleeping now, we're watching trashy TV, and looking forward to a restful, full night of sleep.
As Dan put it this morning, we signed up for all kinds of scary moments when we decided to have kids. I'm sure there will be many more to come.
I love you, Owen!!
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2 comments:
Well, don't feel bad, Mom had to do that for me all the time. I had asthma and the croup all the time too. She went to the ER a few times untill a great doctor told her to start the shower as hot as she could stand it. Sit on the floor and let it run. If it didn't let up then to come in, sure enough that seemed to help. When it didn't she would bring me in. I know its scary, but you two are the best parents. Hang in there and it will be fine. I love you all. Aunt Heather.
Awww Lisa. I'm so sorry you had to take that trip to the emergency room. Respiratory stuff is SCARY. I agree, having to restrain your child when they're scared and looking to you for comfort is just the PITS. Hopefully he's feeling better now and you've all caught up on your sleep.
Hugs :)
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