Tuesday night after Tyke's 18 month well check and working with Daddy at the cherry farm our little guy started running a fever. He acted fine on the drive home but refused any food, he only wanted his milk. When we got home he felt really warm to me so I took his temperature and it was just above 99°. I gave him a bath and a dose of Motrin and he went right to bed. I figured his fever was just a side effect from his immunizations, though he's never had one before after getting his shots. I was able to text with Heather Jo and get her advice. I kept an eye on Tyke and his fever continued to go up. At around midnight he was measuring around 101°. Chad got home after 1 a.m. and we, in our sleep, took turns checking on our little guy. At around 3 a.m. Tyke's fever had hit 103°! We gave him another dose of Motrin and his fever started to come down.
Wednesday morning he was still fevering around 100° and he was starting to have a slight cough that at times sounded like the dreadful barking cough. Chad decided to take the day off from work and just hang out with our little guy. Tyke acted fine and played great all day though you could see in his eyes he just didn't feel good. His fever lingered between 99° and 100° all day. We had dinner and Tyke didn't really care too much to eat. He hadn't eaten or drank very much all day long. Chad left for work (the cherries job) around 6:30 p.m. that night. Tyke and I hung out on the couch, he was extra snuggly. His breathing started to sound a little congested, like he needed to clear his throat, and his barking cough was starting to get worse. I got him bathed and ready for bed and we layed down to watch cartoons. He fell asleep quickly but had a hard time getting comfortable. The only position he would lay in was on his stomach, curled up in a ball.
Tyke was drooling a lot, coughing a lot, and breathing pretty hard and fast at this point. I text Chad a video so he could see and hear how our little guy sounded. He told me to call my mom or one of my sisters to see what they thought. I was able to get a hold of Stephanie and she told me that Tyke sounded like he had croup (she had gone through the same ordeal only a week before with Bowdee). She suggested we go sit in the bathroom with a hot shower running so that Tyke could breathe in the steam. Tyke was whiny and miserable at this point. We sat in the bathroom for fifteen minutes, I almost melted and poor Tyke still sounded terrible. I got him and myself dressed and said a little prayer before we loaded up and headed out to the emergency room (trip #3 for our little guy this year!). My poor little Tyke was really struggling at this point and wheezing bad. I couldn't believe how fast and hard this illness struck him!
I called Grandma Cheryl on the way out to the hospital and she came and met us there. It was just after 10:30 p.m. when we got Tyke checked in and his vitals taken. He of course cried the entire time, anything to do with doctors is a bad deal for him. We were lucky enough to have Dr. Rosenbeck for our ER doctor (we LOVE him!) and he was quick to come in and assess Tyke. It didn't take long for him to diagnose Tyke with croup. He ordered a breathing treatment, chest x-rays, and a shot of steroids to help Tyke out. Tyke did well with the breathing treatment even though he cried the entire time. The respiratory therapist said that it was probably a good thing he was crying so hard because he was really inhaling the vapors hard. It took less than five minutes for the treatment to be over with. I got Tyke calmed down and almost to sleep just in time to be taken back for x-rays. He started freaking out again and to make things even worse I couldn't stay with him because of my pregnancy so he was all on his own. It was heartbreaking for both of us but I knew he was in good hands. Dr. Rosenbeck waited in the hallway with me for a few minutes which was nice. After getting my little Tyke back in my arms it was time for the dreaded shot. My poor guy, after the immunization the night before I had promised him he wouldn't need another shot for a while, boy am I a liar! They poked him in his right leg (his immunization had been done in his left) and it took forever to get him calmed down.
Tyke scrame and scrame and neither me or Grandma Cheryl could comfort him. The nurse finally came in and told us we could walk around the hospital if we wanted, if it would help, and so we did. We walked down to the fish tank and that did the trick. We got Tyke calmed down but he refused to close his tired eyes. I'm sure that in his mind he didn't trust us to go to sleep because every time he tried he got picked on again. I had him almost asleep when his Daddy came walking down the hall. Seeing his Daddy is just what our little guy needed. He perked right up and yelled, "DAD!" and jumped into his arms. He snuggled Chad and wasn't tired anymore. His breathing sounded almost normal and he didn't cough very much after that. Tyke didn't require anymore treatments but we had to hang out at the hospital and be monitored for a while to make sure things were OK. Eventually Tyke reached for me and snuggled into my shoulder and fell asleep. Grandma Cheryl went home and shortly after that we got the OK to go home too. It was 2 a.m. when we finally left the hospital. As soon as we walked outside Tyke woke up because Life Flight was there and preparing to take off. We stayed and watched the helicopter leave before heading home for bed. Of course by then Tyke was wide awake and wanting to run around. Luckily he fell right to sleep as soon as we climbed into bed. He slept really well but there was no sleeping in.
Thursday I stayed home from work and Tyke and I took it easy for the day. Tyke's fever was completely gone. We were able to take a really long, much needed nap. Tyke's appetite was back and he ate really well. As nighttime set in his cough started coming back and the more he coughed the more it started to sounds like the barking cough. His breathing still sounded fine. We called it a night and went to bed and ran the humidifier all night long. Because of all of Tyke's napping he refused to fall asleep until close to midnight.
Today Tyke still has his moments of sounding wheezy and the barking cough but for the most part he is doing great! His Daddy gave him a vapor bath, rubbed some vicks on him, and ran the humidifier all morning. Here's hoping our little guy won't have any more trouble from this croup!
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