Jetta is quite the little fighter when she got the croup this past winter. She had it three different times. As her parents, Cole and I would prefer dealing with her having the flu then croup. Watching a little kid struggle to get air is far worse than watching them puke. The first week of January is when she got it the first time. Cole and I first assumed she was getting a cold. Her cough was the seal bark but overall at first it just seemed like your common cold. Then one night it escalated very quickly. Cole and I ran to her room after hearing her wheezing and gasping for air. Cole's instincts kicked in and he ran her outside in his underwear. I ran to the computer to see if we needed to take her in to the hospital or if there was things we could do at home to avoid an ER visit since it was past any time for a clinic to be open. When all the symptoms matched to croup we decided to call the on call doctor through our pediatrician office. She confirmed that it sounded like croup and gave us strategies and a prescription of medicine to get us through the night. Poor little Jetta struggled like crazy trying to get air into her airway for several hours. She was exhausted. We were freezing, because to help her breathe the outside doors needed to be open and humidifiers blazing and house temperature way down. However, the strategies worked. Her prescription was a Godsend. It was a steroid which was a little freaky thinking about giving my little petite daughter, but after watching her fight like hell to get air we would be crazy to not give it to her. We felt so grateful for that little pill as it started helping her airway open up. She still wheezed the entire night as we took turns holding her through the night, but she was getting enough to be okay. Where as before we got her the pill she would be limp from exhaustion wheezing than all of a sudden be gasping for air. She was sick for several days. During the days it was almost like she was back to a common cold then during the nights she would start with the breathing issues again. It was a long week of sleeping in the chair with her so we could keep her upright and a close eye on her. We were so relieved when she was all better from it. She had it a second time, but it was more manageable because we had some of her prescription still available. We also felt more confident in knowing how to handle it and help her through it. However, the third time she got the croup it was a lot more difficult than both other times because it was no longer cold outside and running her outside to open her airway did nothing for her. She would continue to wheeze and gasp and not be able to get air. Her fever was higher than it had ever been. She also didn't get the bark cough leading up to it other than a couple times earlier that day she coughed once and it sounded similar but nothing more. Than that night all of a sudden we heard her gasping and when Cole got to her she wasn't getting any air. She was on her stomach, face down gasping. He ran her outside again in his underwear but it didn't help. It was 9:45 at night and our Pediatricians after hours clinic closes at 10:00 so we called in. They were so nice and told us to bring her in immediately. I stayed with Ashton, and Cole ran her in. He does so much better than I do at remaining calm in high pressure situations (though anyone who knows us knows this). We were so grateful that they helped us that night. We definitely would have had to take her into the ER if they hadn't helped us. They gave her a breathing treatment, and prescribed us more of the steroid medicine. She was such a little fighter through it. I felt really proud of how Cole and I handled it, too. Croup is a little scary and it took a heavy toll on our sweet little, Jetta. I didn't ever feel like she wasn't going to be ok, but I did feel frightened about how bad it was going to get and how hard it was going to be for her to fight to breathe. It made me feel extremely grateful that other than a couple times a year my children have healthy immune systems. I built an even greater admiration for parents who have sick little ones who are fighting for their lives with serious diseases. I can't imagine how hard and difficult that would be, and I pray I never have to feel the weight of that trial. It would be crushing to watch your little one go through so much pain. Though the croup felt big to us, to the parents fighting the serious stuff it would feel easy. I'm grateful to have healthy kids. I also felt more appreciation for Cole. He is the best Husband, and he's an even better Dad. I love him, and I'm grateful for his tenderness, patience, and his huge loving heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment