Croup

Gray has had a little runny nose the last few days ... no big deal.  Until, last night.  At 10:30 pm, Gray started coughing an awful cough.  We went to check on him and he was struggling to breathe.

The noise he made to get a breath in was just awful.  We tried to give him a breathing treatment, but the noise of the machine scared him and he started to scream.  The more he screamed, the worse he got.  He was changing colors in his face. We had transitioned him into a steamy shower and our Dr. was on the phone and could hear his struggle over the phone in the next room.  We were making arrangements to get to the nearest children's hospital when he started to calm down, began watching Cailou on the TV (his favorite cartoon), and we offered him a Kashi cereal bar.

As he started to calm down, his breathing became less labored - so the Dr. then suggested that we find a 24-hour pharmacy in order to get him a steroid for the nebulizer. Fortunately, our neighbor happened to have the exact medicine we needed and brought it over.  Gray did not sleep again until 12:30 am and I did not get to sleep till 2:30 am.

Anthony woke me again at 4:30 am because Gray was struggling again.  We muffled the noise of the nebulizer machine with a pillow and attempted to give him the medicine.  No instant miracle, but as daddy held him upright he breathed slightly better.  This morning, the Dr. confirmed it was croup.  We will start prednisone and more breathing treatments today. Keep us in your prayers.

D