Now, let's examine what croupy means. Croup is a condition where the air waves and the throat get swollen which in turn makes the person have a bark like cough. It is from having a sore throat, asthma, and sinus issues. It cannot be caught, however the other symptoms can (sore throat and sinus issues). It usually makes the person sound like they have laryngitis and they cough frequently to try to relieve the swelling they feel in their throats.Because of the way she was sounding, I was going to give her a nebulizer treatment but I realized that A) She didn't have any major labored breathing so she was getting enough oxygen and B) I didn't have any albuterol to put in the nebulizer in the first place. Crap.
So, I called their Pediatrician's nurse after hours line which I had never done before, especially at 4am. The nurse sounded half asleep but she was very helpful. She listened to Maddie on the phone, recommended some things to help her croup, which we did but didn't help and when she realized that instructed us to go to the emergency room. During these phone calls Parker woke up briefly and sounded just like Maddie, all croupy.
So, we went back to sleep since Maddie and I were exhausted, Howard was leaving for work and Mackenzie and Parker were still asleep. At 10:30 we all woke up ready to do the whole ER thing. Parker was feverish when he woke up too, 101.6. I went and got my parents and took my Dad back to the house to stay with Mack and then My mom and I took the babies to Dell Children's Medical Center.
They absolutely loved the waiting room with the awesome fish tanks. They loved to run circles around it. Kind of weird seeing your sick kids run circles around anything. But even with 102.3 (Maddie) and 103.1 (Parker) fevers they still ran around like the insane children they are. It definitely took a while but eventually we got into a room where the kiddos had to change into hospital gowns and share a bed which was actually really cute.
They were brought bunches of books to read and play with, which I read multiple times until I realized that they weren't paying attention to me at all.
Then a nurse brought a TV remote and they watched Spongebob the rest of the stay.
They were cuddling constantly. Neither one of them liked when the other was messed with and got upset, so there was lots of hugs and cuddles.
They were so freakin sweet to each other the nurses asked if they could keep the curtain open (but door closed) so they could see them from the nurses station. Who am I to deny them my children's cuteness?
In the end, the fever had gone down a few degrees, they had strep tests done and a super steroid given to both of them resulting in large cups of apple juice from the nurses.
Isn't this cute? Waiting on their release papers to be finished. They crawled all over the floor of that ER. I practically bathed them in Clorox when we got home (I kid, I kid...kinda).
So they were on the fast track to getting better. We spent all day Sunday hanging around the house watching TV and relaxing. I made chocolate chip pancakes for brunch and hamburgers for dinner. Very low key, but just what we needed.
♥ Kristin
