7 Videos Later...

E came down with a fever yesterday that turned into croup last night. It was a long night. Her temperature spiked to 103.2, she was up crying, and gasping for air every hour. And that cough. If you've never been around a child with croup you can liken the sound of their cough to a barking seal, followed by them gasping frantically for air. The whole episode is a vicious circle, because they're upset and panicking with every cough, which makes the constriction in their air passages worse. And on top of it all she was complaining that her throat really hurt, she winced and kicked her little legs every time she swallowed her own saliva. It takes a lot to stay calm yourself, much less let yourself doze off until the next round. D and I took turns rocking her, and trying our best to soothe her, gently coaxing her back to sleep. I stared blurry-eyed at the computer screen searching for the signs of when to take her to the ER. We had the humidifier going full blast, vapo-rub out and I dabbed away at her hot little body with a cool washcloth all night long, all the while administering alternating doses of Tylenol and Motrin.

We made it through the night, barely. I called the pediatrician's office this morning, and we were seen right away. Because this wasn't the first time E's had croup this year the on-call doctor suggested that we give her an oral steroid to relieve her airways. This has done wonders, although the proof will be tonight, as croup typically gets worse at night and usually the 2nd and 3rd nights are worse than the 1st. We are hopeful that because we rarely give her medication that her body will respond to this well, and everything will be over soon.

In the mean time we spent most of today in front of the TV. As soon as we got home from the doctor's office, I made a quick trip to the library swiping up every possible video I thought E would watch (at one point I think I psyched out an 8 year old kid that was browsing next to me, we reached for the same colorful case at the same time and she quickly pulled back her hand sensing my intensity or insanity). So 7 videos later, here I am waiting for evening to fall and wondering what the next 24 hours will bring. Will she sleep unfettered, or sporadic, or will I make that dreaded trip to the ER?