I very proudly went into our well-child check up, knowing that my kids have been healthy since August. Not even a minor case of the sniffles, during this flu-laden season. That was Wednesday morning.
Thursday afternoon Jonathan coughed. A deep, barky cough.
I knew Jonathan had croup, and the last time he did was in August and it landed us in the ER. That time, Jay was in the air on the way home from Seattle from a business trip. I packed the diaper bag and told Jay what to expect.
We rode out the night with two trips to the shower for a steam bath, but at 4:30 am, it got pretty bad. The problem with croup is that is constricts the upper airway causing difficulty breathing. This, of course, is terrifying to a two-and-a-half year old little boy, and the subsequent screaming made it that much harder for him to breath. We ended up on the front porch bundled in blankets, and the 30* weather was a welcomed relief and calmed his labored breathing.
We awoke Friday morning TIRED.
Friday afternoon, during nap time, Jonathan had another attack. This was very surprising, as croup flare-ups normally happen at night. I knew we were in for another bad night. As such, I planned our evening outing accordingly. We all bundled up with winter coats, mittens, hats and lap blankets and drove around with the windows down (to expose J to as much cold air as possible) while looking at Christmas lights. The kids had a fabulous time.
Bedtime was at 8:00, the first attack was at 9:00. Then 11:00, 12:00, 2:00, 3:30, and 5:00. During the 5am attack, after I got Jonathan calmed down, I decided to take him up to my room with me. On the way out of his room, I stepped in cat puke, slipped, and fell on my rear while holding a 33 pound toddler. I managed to not drop J, for which I was very glad, but had the cat been in my kicking vicinity, he would have received a boot down the stairs.
At 8am, I called the pediatricians office and got an appointment. We arrived and they gave Jonathan an adorable little mask to wear. He was so great with the physicians assistant, listening to her heart with his stethoscope, and smiling coyly at her. She could hear him coughing from the room next door and came in saying "I know what you are here for!"
She immediately recommended the steroid shot (which I was hoping to avoid) and oral steroids. She was very surprised that we managed him at home for so long, but I know the only reason we weren't at the ER was because of the cold weather. The shot was of course horrible, and he sobbed "Put my pants on me! Take me to the car! Drive me home!"
Apparently while J and I were at the doctor's, Jay got sick on his breakfast at home. So when we arrived, Jay was feeling pretty rough. Eventually we got it together enough to leave the house for a little bit to take in some more fresh, cold air. Nap time was just okay, with both kids waking up and needing to be put back to bed. I ran out to Target to pick up the oral meds, and when I got home, all hell broke lose. As soon as I came in the door, both kids were crying, clinging, distraught and miserable.
I brought home chocolate to bribe Jonathan to take his medicine, yet I still ended up wearing half of it. All he wanted was juice, so he drank 2 juice boxes rather than eating dinner. When he asked for a 3rd, I told him no, that he was going to get a sick stomach. We snuggled on the couch reading "When you give a moose a muffin," while Jay battled Faith at the dinner table. Suddenly, Jonathan launched a huge brown stream of wet vomit all over me. "Jay! Help! Now!" And then the second wave of foul smelling puke hit me right in the chest. (Side note, do not give your child chocolate milk, plus 12 oz's of juice, plus tylenol, steroids and 2 pieces of chocolate in an hour.)
Jay scooped Jonathan up and ran him to the tub while Faith stared slack jawed "Mommy, Jonathan threw up on you!" I hopped off the couch, and despite the shades being up on the front windows, stripped down to my skivies and ran up to the tub, vomit soaking through my underclothes.
Jonathan and I took a bath together while Jay tackled cleaning the couch and Faith walked around in amazement at what had just happened.
While Jay and faced a huge mess to clean up, Jonathan ran around happy as could be with a much calmer tummy. We finished the night by watching part of BABE, but bedtime couldn't have come soon enough for the adults of this household.
I don't think Jay and I have been this tired, grossed out or stressed by parenting duties since the puking sickness of 2008. However, we are looking forward to a much less difficult night. The steroid shot has already vastly improved Jonathan's breathing. I did think it was kinda funny when Jay said "I am ready to go back to work now."
Posts
