Anthony called me last night on my way out with the girls. Was Isabella sick? Had I knowingly taken off and left him alone with a sick baby? I was insulted. Of course she wasn't sick.
Apparently, she was.
By the time I got home, Isabella was asleep, but her breathing was extremely labored. You could hear every breath she took, and is was wheezy and raspy. She was also coughing like a barking seal.
I told him it was probably croup, but the only experience I'd ever had with croup was on Anne of Green Gables, when she saves her Bosom Friend Diana's sister!
So, I grabbed the Dr. Sears book (thanks, Em) and started nosing around. Her symptoms seemed to align with the symptoms for croup, but the concerning part was her breathing. We decided that we would check out our pediatricians site online.
This pretty much confirmed that it was croup we were dealing with, and that we probably needed to call the triage nurse for further instruction. Kindly she informed us that we needed to spend 20 minutes with her in a bathroom full of steam, and then 5 minutes outside in the cold (this was the advice given to Anthony earlier that evening - thanks Christina). That should help her breathing. If it didn't, she told us that we would need to bring Isabella into Children's.
Anthony spent the 20 minutes in the shower and 5 minutes outside. He then set up camp on Isabella's floor to sleep while I rocked with her. The nurse told us that someone needed to sleep in the same room as Isabella so we could monitor her breathing. Around quarter to 5, the process started all over again.
Lucky for us, after her steam/cold treatments, her breathing would get better. At 7:30 am, just as instructed, I called the doctor's office. We got in at 8:30 am, and the doctor confirmed our suspicions. "Classic Croup" he told us. He did not give her the steroid shot that we had been told might happen. Instead, he gave Isabella some little tablets that we smashed up and gave her with some Karo Syrup.
After a 3ish hour nap for mama, daddy, and Isabella, she seems to be doing much better!
6 comments:
Poor baby... I'm glad she feels better!
I think we have it too! Quinnton has been doing the same thing. I didn't take him to the doctor. I didn't think they gave them anything. And I've been watching him closely. It's not as bad as Isabella sounds! But oh man! Holy Croup is right! I hate it!!! I'm glad you are feeling a little better.
Ohhh, I am so sorry Isabella!! We have been throught the croup before! NO FUN!!!
Poor Isabella! I'm glad she's doing better and you all were able to get a little nap. We managed to miss ever getting it around here.
Poor Isabella!! Glenn had RSV when he was 7 weeks old and spent 5 days in the hospital-Ugh!!
Love the new photo/title block at the top of the page!
I like the new header!
We have not experienced the croup yet, knock on wood! We are just battling the never ending cold at our house these days...I hope this isn't an early preview of what's to come for the rest of the winter. *sigh*
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