well that's croupy

Zander started coughing on Saturday. Not too much, but it was barky. Sounded like a seal. We called the after-hours line and since he wasn't stridorous (a fancy word for wheezy) he gave us a few things to do and said to keep an eye on him.

Sunday I had a day of shopping planned, and I was desperate not to miss it. It became one of those things that I had to do. I spend so little time just meandering through stores, not trying to fit a stroller through the aisles, or wonder when he's going to get fussy and want to go home. So, I left him with my parents and went about my business. He was "fine" most of the day, but since the worst of croup hits at night, after he went to bed he was very stridorous (should I just say wheezy?) and I couldn't listen to it. He woke up around 10 and we called the after-hours line again. He gave us a couple ideas, we tried them (they didn't work), and we were told to head into the ER. And so it begins...

We were checked in pretty quick. And that's where the good ended. It was midnight when we checked in, and he'd been up since 10. He didn't go to sleep until around 2:30. He'd had a steroid shot and 2 nebulizer treatments. While he was sleeping, one of the residents came in and listened to his breathing. She said he sounded good, and as soon as the doctor came in, we could probably go home. It took another 45 minutes for the doc to come in, and she said "He's still stridorous. We can't let you go home. We have to admit him." Good God, why can't 2 people actually tell us the same thing? She said that standard protocol was to treat him and then he would have to be monitored for FOUR hours. That's the first we heard of that. At first they said "a couple" hours. A couple is 2. Four is a lot more than two. SO, they decided to admit us. Have you ever seen a hospital crib?



That was the scariest part, looking at him through the bars. By this time it was 5am and Dave had gone home to get some things. I told him to get some rest, because there wasn't much room for us there.

At 8am, Dr Yu came to see Z. Yes, his actual pediatrician made a trip to the hospital to check him out. I love that guy. Anyway, he said "Looks good, you can go home. Come see me tomorrow." So I called Dave and he came to get us. At 8:45, he asked the nurse when we could go home. "Not until 9:45. You have to stay 6 hours after the last nebulizer treatment."

Now it's SIX hours? Where the hell do these people get their information from? And why don't 2 people have the same information?

We finally did come home, after almost 10 hours in the hospital.

My advice to you is this - if you hear a bark and think the kid has croup, take them in. The earlier, the better.

I gotta go to sleep now.