The Croup

Wyatt has croup. I have a strong opinion that this is the worst cold ever. It started on Wednesday morning around 2:30 when he woke up barking. He was flipping out. We brought him downstairs and I gave him some Delsym, which helped a little. I'm pretty sure that the most sleep he got after the 2:30 wake up was from 4 to 5. It was pretty sucky.

I stayed home with them Wednesday, and called the pediatrician where I was advised that he had croup. Seriously? I was convinced that this was a disease that only existed in the 19th century. I had faint recollections of little kids in Anne of Green Gables getting sick with it. And isn't that what Beth got from those neighbors in Little Women? Or was that some other illness? In either case, I don't remember it being a good illness to have in literary terms. Anyway, the nurse told me to up his dosage of cough medicine and give him Tylenol for the fever. She told me to definitely call in if his symptoms changed or got worse.

He was great all day, but he got worse. He got winded if he tried to be active, but he still played nicely. But when the sun went down, the croup got bad. I expected it because the nurse told me to, but I wasn't expecting this. I put him in the shower for the steam and then took him outside (clothed and bundled up obviously). I gave him more medicine. He finally fell asleep next to me on the couch, but as soon as we got up and came to bed he flipped out again. And flipping out only makes it worse.


Once he was finally calm and fell asleep, we lost power. It was so stinking hot that Brian and I took turns sleeping on the screened porch off of our room with him. He would wake up crying and have a little flip out and then fall back asleep. He would just whine. Or he would say "Hey Daddy, I'm Woody, Howdy, howdy howdy," and laugh.


I went to work Thursday (I needed to make up the time I missed Wednesday so I get my week off at Christmas), and stayed until 2:30. Brian came home around noon and told me that Wyatt was worse. I called the pediatricians office and they told me to be there at 3. Where we're living now is a good 45 minute ride from my office, and then another 35 miuntes to the Pediatrician, so I had to tell them I couldn't be there until 4 at least. By the time we got there it was 4:15, and the doctor and his nurse and secretary were the only people left in the building! I felt so bad! But he gave us some steroids to help with the croup, and it made Wyatt so much better. But I seriously felt terrible when we walked out and the entire office was dark, like they'd been waiting for us forever. I suppose that's what doctor's do, but it still made me feel like they actually cared about Wyatt! I'll have to bring some sort of baked item when we go for Reese's well baby check up on Monday...

He didn't cough at all that night, and we've only given it to him a few times since. Reese started coughing on Thursday, but she doesn't have the same croupy sound to her, so I think she just has a cold. I'm hoping that's all this is, because I am so ready for this to be done and to have my kids feeling better again!