Ok... so I apologize to my family and some of my friends who have heard this story a million times, but I need to blog about it.
The dreaded croup came into our house the week of October 12th. Ryan got sick with it first on the 13th. He had a really bad barking cough and had trouble breathing. Troy and I worked with him to help him breathe better and to be comfortable. Troy mostly took over during the nights to help. We had the humidifier going and gave him medicine as needed. I finally took him to the doctor and he gave Ryan some steroids to knock this croup out of him. Well, it worked perfectly. Ryan was doing well the next night and all we're dealing with is his minor cough.
Then...
This last Wednesday evening (the 21st) as I was getting Benjamin ready for bed, I noticed that his voice was getting horse. I thought to myself, "Oh great. Now it's Ben's turn!" Troy took over again that evening to help Ben breathe better as his breathing got worse. He had the cold air from the outside coming in and the humidifier going.
The next day, after listening to Ben all morning with his horrible breathing, I called the doctor.
Around 12:30 p.m., I asked the nurse when the earliest time was that we could come in. She said that 4:45 was the earliest. I told that we'll take it. She then thought for a minute and said that she would be able to squeeze us in at 2 o'clock. Even better. I said we'll take it. Then, she paused and said, "Wait a minute... Is that him breathing in the background?" I said yes. She then said, "Why don't you just bring him in right now. He sounds like he needs a breathing treatment."
I brought Ben in immediately and we didn't have to wait long for the doctor to come in to check Ben out. We tried giving Ben the breathing treatment but he was so upset by having me hold him and making him breathe this weird smoke coming out of a tube that he wouldn't calm down. Then the doctor told me that he recommends that I take him over to the hospital. He told me that he felt that it would be smart to watch him overnight. Overnight?! Oh joy! I really didn't believe this was happening. I really thought that I was coming in to get that steroid that Ryan got and we'll call it good.
Around 2 o'clock, we were in the hospital getting admitted and settling in. Benjamin had to get breathing treatments every 2 hours. They also gave him a liquid steroid that he immediately threw up because I heard it tasted so horrible. So, to get that drug in him, they gave him a shot. Oh boy, Ben was a happy camper!
Thankfully, my in-laws, Andy and Marianne were happy to take Ryan so Troy could come up and be with us.
Here is a picture of Benjamin getting his breathing treatments....
Sad huh?!Well, luckily, Benjamin was cooperating and drinking fluids when we offered it to him. All he drank was Apple Juice and Chocolate Milk. I was really happy that he drank because if not, they were going to put in an IV. That was a nice nightmare we avoided!
That evening, the respiratory nurse came in to set up his tent. Ben had to sleep in it to keep the cold humid air going into his lungs. Here is a picture of the tent...
Troy got right beside Ben under the tent with him and took this picture of him...
I think in this picture, he just had it and wanted to go to sleep. Poor kid. That evening, Troy went home to take care of Ryan while I slept in the hospital. I was hopeful that were going home in the morning.Well, the next morning finally came around after a long night and our doctor came in to check on him. He still didn't like the sound of Ben's breathing so he advised us to stay another night. Oh boy. I cringed at the sound of that. And another thing... Ben has an ear infection too.
That day, Friday, was a LONG day. Ben was starting to feel better and his breathing was getting better throughout the day. But the bad part was that Ben was getting pretty stir crazy. We weren't able to take him outside in the halls because he was contagious so he was confined to his room. He cried for daddy when I was there with him and he cried for mommy when Troy was there with him. When we were both there with him, he just cried. He was just not a happy camper and he was cranky!!
After another night, which thankfully was pretty good, the doctor came in Saturday morning and told us we could go home. Yay!! We couldn't get out of there fast enough! Ben was so ready to go!!
When we got home though, he was still pretty cranky. Nothing we did could comfort him. We put him down for a long 3 hour nap and he woke up in a little better mood. You could tell that he still wasn't feel good. Around 7 o'clock that night, he came up to me and said "bed." I couldn't believe that he put himself to bed. He didn't want a bath or anything. He wanted to sleep! We just put him in his pajamas and put him to bed. He was fast asleep in 2 seconds.
Today...
Benjamin is still pretty cranky. His breathing sounds pretty good and all we're dealing with now is his ear infection and his cough. He took another 3 hour nap again and then after an hour of him being awake, he laid back down on his bed and took another hour nap. I was shocked! That poor little guy has had it and he's tired.
I sure do hope that this week is going to be tolerable. He has been pretty cranky and I hope that he gets better soon and his spirits gets better.
All I can say... the croup is NOT welcome in the Anderson home! Go away!!
