Croup: Our Weekend

You know you're a parent when your Valentine's festivities include a trip to Instacare, sleeping on the floor next to your little one, changing the humidifier filter, and administering steroid treatments through a nebulizer. Some weekend!

Little Miss started with a normal sounding cough Friday morning, by Friday night it was a barky cough (like a seal), and wheezing when she inhaled while crying. Plus a mild fever. We figured it was a mild case of croup.

So I slept on her floor just in case. Well, just in case turned into a long night of her waking up frequently, coughing uncontrollably, the breathing getting more labored, Ry taking her out into the cold night air all bundled to help open up her air passages, and lots of cuddles.

The next day things continued to get worse. Her voice disappeared completely (very cute, but sad), and she became very lethargic. Her breathing was labored even at resting. So we took her to Instacare. Good thing we did! We didn't know just how bad it was.

After checking her oxygen level and listening to her breathing, the diagnosis was confirmed - croup. They quickly administered a breathing treatment, which she hated, despite the cute elephant mask. It helped almost immediately.

Then some traumatic chest x-rays to check for pneumonia. I wish I had a picture of this. Little Miss was strapped into a clear plastic tube with her arms straight above her head and her legs dangling.

She didn't cry at all. She just wanted to hold hands. Such a trooper. Luckily her chest looked good.

So we were sent home with a prescription and a nebulizer. Oh, and a puppy they gave her.

After a few more treatments of the nebulizer - she is leaps and bounds better! Not totally out of the woods, but at least it's not super scary anymore.

Has anyone else dealt with croup before? What was your experience?