The Croup

Our poor little guy got sick, fast!  Wednesday night he was perfectly fine and healthy.  We had some trouble getting him to bed that night.  He just could not relax.  He would toss and turn and need to be put down on the floor to wiggle.  Within about a 2 1/2 hour time frame he had eaten three bottles totaling 16 ounces!  His first bottle was an 8 oz and I ended up making two more 4 oz bottles.  After the second bottle we were exhausted and stuck Tyke in bed with us hoping that would help calm him.  It didn't.  We fought and fought until nearly 11:30 p.m. when I gave in and made a third bottle for him.  After drinking it he finally fell to sleep.  We followed right behind him.

Yesterday around 4:30 a.m. Chad woke me up.  Tyke was on fire!  He had a temperature of 102.7!  His first fever!  I hopped up and got him some Tylenol and a bottle.  He took the medicine great (he almost always does) and downed his bottle.  He was moaning and miserable.  His breathing wasn't right and he had a barking cough.  How did this come on so darn fast?!  I'm glad he had slept with us otherwise it probably would have been a few more hours before we found him sick.  Once again we could not get him comfortable or calmed down.  We had him stripped down to a onesie trying to cool him off.  Tyke and I finally got up for the day and left he bedroom so that Chad could get some more rest before work.

Tykers and I hung out in the living room.  Poor little guy just wanted to be held.  I kept taking his temperature and it fluctuated between 100.4 and 101ish degrees.  I was so nervous and worried.  We had never dealt with fevers before with our little guy.  Soon Tyke fell asleep and I layed and watched him like a hawk!  There was no way I was getting any sleep with the way he felt and sounded.  Chad got up around 6:30 a.m. and we decided that we should take Tyke to the doctor.

Chad left for work and I made my arrangements with my job and family.  Tyke and I were staying home for the day!  Poor little guy would cough/bark until he gagged and would almost throw up.  It was so sad.  Eventually his fever dropped just below 100 degrees and he started to play and smile.  I debated on taking him to the doctor, since he was mostly acting fine, but he threw the biggest, most miserable fit for me.  I couldn't calm him down so I finally left the room to call and make an appointment.  He crawled after me, stopped crying and smiled.  Dr. Fullmer was out of the office for the day so we got scheduled to see Dr. Lauritzen.

Tyke and I got ready and headed to Payson.  Chad had a meeting pretty much at the same time our appointment was but luckily he was able to meet us and hang out.  Thank goodness!  The initial visit went really well.  Tyke still doesn't like the doctors office at all and had alligator tears every time someone new touched him.  His fever was gone, his ears and throat looked great and his lungs were crystal clear but the doctor could hear how bad Tyke's breathing was.  Towards the end of our visit with Dr. Lauritzen, Tyke coughed and the doctor told us that that sound was croup and that Tyke would need a good dose of steroids and a breathing treatment.

Tyke took the steroid orally really well which was good otherwise he would have needed a shot.  Then the fun began, the breathing treatment.  The nurse started the machine, gave us the mask, and said it would take 8 minutes to finish.  That 8 minutes was the longest 8 minutes of my life!  Chad and I wrestled with a screaming Tyke the entire time.  He absolutely refused to wear the mask or to let us hold it on or near his little red face.  There was no calming him down.  We wrapped him up tight in his blanket but he fought his way through.  Eventually the treatment was over and the doctor came back in to check Tyke.  He immediately started crying again.  Poor kid!  Even though he didn't get as much of the treatment as we would have liked, it had helped and his breathing sounded a little bit better.

We were told to give Tyke ibuprofen every 6-8 hours to help with the inflammation in his throat.  Also, if his cough didn't sound a lot better the next day we would possibly need to do another treatment.  Tyke and I stopped at Walmart for some Motrin, I gave him his dose, and then we headed for home.  We were both exhausted.  Tyke fell asleep almost immediately and he slept a good long time.  When he woke up he was hungry and chose macaroni and cheese for his late lunch.  He ate almost all of it and an applesauce pouch and then he was all smiles and good to go.  He played and napped the rest of the day and never fevered again.  As soon as the Motrin would wear off though his breathing would start to change.  Chad and I decided that we would just keep it in his system for a couple of days and go with the flow.

This morning our little guy was full of smiles and loves.  His cough sounds a ton better, mostly phlegmy with a slight bark.  His breathing still isn't totally clear.  He sneezed a few times and blew out a lot of snot, which to us was a good thing.  It's funny how excited we get now over the yucky stuff.  We were told that this little "cold" could take 3-5 days to run it's course.  We're hoping our little guy continues to do good and we don't have to go back for more treatments!