Croup on the SuperBowl!
We aren't a football family, I don't think that I can even NAME all the teams on the NFL. The same goes for my hubby too- Lon is much more of an outdoor-sy, adventurous guy rather then a sports guy. He would definitely rather play the sport then watch it on tv, that's how I am too. Regardless, we do attend both of our parent's SuperBowl parties every year. My father and my family are so big on their football, its like our second Christmas lol! They always go all out for food and watch the SuperBowl from the beginning until the aftershow. This year was no different. My mom was planning on making tacos, pizza rolls and 7 layer nacho dip for the game. Our in-laws were having stuffed peppers, loaded baked potatoes and fancy seafood quesdillas for dinner. We planned on attending both of these events.
Unfortunately due to the winter weather, Aunt Natalie and Benton did not come to town for SuperBowl. Nat did not feel that the Bozeman Pass would be safe enough for them in this blizzarding weather. So they stayed in Missoula. :( We will be rescheduling her bridal fitting appointment for sometime when the weather clears. I cannot wait!
However upset we were, it may have been a good thing that Aunt Natalie and Benton did not come down. Saturday morning, both kids woke up with a cough and Anna a runny nose. I treated them with some honey and eucalyptus, figuring they just had a cold. By Sunday morning though, their cough (Anna's especially) started sounding "barky" and Anna seemed a little worse off. She was unhappy, acted achy and tired, and only wanted Lon or I. I started suspecting that she had croup.
Alan had croup when he was only probably 9 weeks old. I remember that doctor appointment quite vividly. He was barking, it didn't even sound like coughing but like a yippy puppy dog. Every time he breathed, his little chest sucked in a little by his ribs. He looked like he wasn't getting enough oxygen. The doctors hooked him up to a cath, X-Rayed his chest to make sure he hadn't developed pnuemonia too, took blood samples to test for other respiratory problems and gave him steriods. It was a very scary moment for this new mama, my tiny perfect baby being pricked and prodded and hooked up to all these machines.. I broke down several times. In the end, he was okay but I still remember that to this day. I was very anxious about Anna potentially having croup.
Our pediatric center is open on the weekends for only five hours each day. There are 10 total spots for each day, they usually go really quick. Yesterday was no different. I called right at noon, kept getting the busy signal and by the time I got a hold of the receptionist, there was only ONE spot left. We scheduled it for Anna, because croup is much rougher on younger children. Plus Alan still acted mostly unaffected by being sick, he ran around everywhere with his regular energy and only coughed when he was laying on his back. He is a resilient little man that boy is! :)
The doctor confirmed that she definitely had croup onset most likely from a regular cold and also a pretty severe ear infection in her right ear. Her lungs sounded perfectly clear though, which reassured him that the croup was not severe enough for hospital treatment. She had good oxygen levels and would probably recover easily. He advised me to use a humidifier at night and let her breathe in all the cold air outside too. It would be the only thing that could help her. No steriods this time, and I was 100% okay with that! Miss Anna was obviously very upset with him, she is still so traumatized by doctors and hospitals. :/ Poor girl. But I was happy that she wasn't going to need any extra oxygen or steriods.
We went back up to Grandma Amber's house for the SuperBowl party. Alan was excited at first, he thought for sure that the Washington team would win, 60 to 8. I told him he was silly, but he actually was pretty close! :D The kids weren't too into the game once it started, it wasn't a very interesting one this year. They kept messing around and rough housing in front of the tv, irritating all the avid SuperBowl watchers lol.After the first quarter, we took them downstairs to watch Planes. Alan and Anna were much more interested in that, but both of them fell asleep within twenty minutes of starting the movie! Clearly the cold was taking a toll on them. :/ We let them sleep until they woke up, ending up missing the half time show and the last of the game. Lon and I didn't care, we weren't too into it either once we discovered that one team wasn't really playing too hard. They were getting whooped and just handing it to them lol. Oh well...
We made it to Grandma Melanie's house much later then we had originally planned and with two sleeping children. They didn't wake up the rest of the night! Lon and I enjoyed the tacos and other snacks while we talked about the game with my parents. Alan was pretty darn close on his guess, Washington did win but 43 to 13! Pretty close still though!
This morning, the kids are feeling much better. Anna has had a full day's dose of her antibiotic for her ear infection, the humidifier seemed to really help last night and the honey is helping too. I had some happy looking kids, made me a happy mama! :D We are still staying home from school today, just to be fully sure. But I am hoping this was just a few day sort of thing, not something that lasts! We are a pretty healthy family and busy too lol.
Has the cold crud gone around your household yet? What remedies do you like to use?
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