Croup

Poor Kendyl awoke at 2am Monday morning with a fever. Within 30 minutes she threw up once and then climbed in bed with me and fell back to sleep. We knew that school was out of the question and decided I would stay home with her Monday because I had clients in the office Wednesday that I didn't want to miss.

Lauryl was not happy to go off to preschool on Monday, knowing that Mommy and Kendyl would be home. We decided she still needed to go in order to keep her in the routine and to make it easier for Kendyl to rest and for me to work productively from home. Rob dropped Lauryl off and then delivered sprite and the much anticipated Hannah Montanna movie to his sick little girl.

Kendyl watched lots of tv and slept and lounged all day. Seemed to be improving as the day progressed. Tuesday she awoke and still had a fever so we decided she'd stay home again. She played with Lauryl throughout the day and I was confident would be able to go to school on Wednesday. Wednesday morning I checked on her before leaving for the office and thought she felt like her temp was okay and she sounded like she was doing fine.

Rob called me within being at work 45 minutes. Kendyl was freaking out because she was having trouble breathing. I could hear the severity of her wheezing through the phone. I instructed Rob to call the pediatrician so he would be able to hear Kendyl's breathing. The on call service did not answer and Rob decided a call to the squad was in order. I listened helplessly via phone as Rob tried to console Kendyl and then to the activity as the squad arrived. The EMT was great with Kendyl and handled her freak out at heading to the hospital well. As soon as they confirmed a trip to Children's, I hopped in my car and beat them there.

I heard the squad call alerting the hospital that they were en route and sat impatiently by the door they would enter waiting to see my baby. When they arrived her eyes were swollen from crying and she looked so pale. She was cuddling a stuffed animal the EMT had given her and gave a small smile upon seeing me.

The docs got right to work with checking her out. Her fever was 102 and they immediately gave Motrin and shortly thereafter initiated the first breathing treatment. The treatment did not lessen the wheezing and she still couldn't talk because of the swelling. They then administered oral steroids and did a second, stronger breathing treatment.

After the second treatment, Kendyl really perked up. She seemed like she was high on speed and the voice that returned sounded like a cartoon character. She smiled big though and you could tell she was breathing easy again.

Feeling better after the second breathing treatment

The docs kept her a few hours to ensure that as the effects of the treatment wore off that she would not relapse into the difficulties she was having upon arrival. The diagnosis was croup and the doc said it was not the worst case she had ever seen, but it was on the bad end of the spectrum and that bringing her to the ER was the right move.

Kendyl was a champ through everything. It was a scary morning for Rob and I to say the least. We are so lucky that Mindi rushed to be with Lauryl so Rob could ride in the squad and that Uncle Joe took the day off and got rear-ended en route to our house to relieve Mindi and take care of Lauryl for us until we could get home. Rob did a fantastic job under pressure, and I was so grateful and proud of him for staying calm and cool.