So in the night I got up around 2:45am to feed Tavin. When I came back into our room I happened to notice that Koen's monitor didn't seem like it was on loud enough, so I turned it up. God must have been the one to put that thought in my head, because at about 4:20am Koen was making the strangest noise in his room and I sat up straight in bed, listened and ran up to see him. It was tough to tell what was going on. It sounded like he was having trouble breathing or was trying to catch his breath, but it really sounded like his windpipe was blocked or something.
He was sad and scared and I picked him up and asked him if he had swallowed something. I was close to doing the hymlic (sp?) on him. I carried him downstairs to Doug so we could problem solve together. Koen thought it was really weird to leave his room in the middle of the night.
We kept thinking he had swallowed something because it sounded like there was something blocking his breathing and he was raspy and barking as he breathed. He started to settle down as we all sat in the bed together and tried to figure out what we should do. I knew that I couldn't put him back up in his room and I asked him if he would sleep with us and he said he wanted to be in his own bed, so that was not going to work. We decided we had to take him in.
We called Sean & Jen and thankfully they picked up. They came right over and we headed to Children's. No one was in the ER, so it wasn't scary or overwhelming for Koen. Doug was great keeping him calm and the nurses and doctors there are so great with kids. The facility is so clean and new we didn't feel disgusting being there like you often do in hospitals.
The nurse immediately thought it was croup. And it was. The doctor had him get a steroid med by mouth and did a vapor breathing treatment. Then they wanted us to wait there about 2 and 1/2 hours so they could monitor him. He was such a champ. It was great they had a TV in there too. We just put PBS on and he was chilled out and calm. We read some books they had there too.
The breathing treatment did work well and we were able to take him home. The steroid med totally got him all wired which was kind of funny. He had some chill out time here, some scrambled eggs for brunch and then we put him to bed at 11:30am. I believe he just woke up.
Unfortunately, with croup you have to go to the hospital to do the treatments, so it is very likely we will have to repeat this whole episode again tonight or tomorrow. I sure hope not!!
So sorry to hear that the (almost) birthday boy is sick! I'm glad to hear he was able to be diagnosed quickly and treated. How scary for you, though! Praying for you guys and that Koen recovers quickly!
ReplyDeleteoh no! abby had croup when i was pregnant with aiden. to help her we would stand in the bathroom with scalding hot water running so she could breathe in the steam, then take her outside into the cold air (it was january or february at the time.) it really helped.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the prayers, Kyndal. I'm nervous about tonight. Hopefully the cold mist humidifier will keep it from getting out of control again.
ReplyDeleteAmie, thanks for the advice. The doctor mentioned those home remedies too as long as he wasn't as bad as he was this morning. I hope the humidifier will really help. It is so sad to see them confused and suffering like that!
ReplyDeleteOh man. We have done the croup thing multiple times. Glad for you that Koen only needed the oral meds. The shot is much more traumatic.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree, Children's is very nice. And SO darn close to you guys!
Wishing you lots of good sleep! Sounds like you caught and treated it early...and the meds oral steroids usual kick in within 12 hours, I think, so hopefully it is a peaceful night at the Melder home.
Oh no! Well I hope that he is getting better from here on out. I thought that was something you got on the Oregon Trail...how do you think he got it? A trip to Children's is probably never desired, but glad that you got to check out the "fortress on the hill" with Koen. We'll be praying for him (and the rest of you guys) as he recovers.
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