Exhaustion!!

Keith and I went to bed last night around 11. We always "double check" on the kids before we head to bed, and they were both soundly sleeping.





At 2:45, Keith brought Carsen into our room, saying he was having a hard time breathing. It wasn't because he was congested or stuffed up, though. It was as though his airway was closing.





I called the ER and asked them what to do. They said they "couldn't give me any medical advice". WHAT???!!! Are you SERIOUS?!?!?!





Then I had the pediatrician on call paged, and she called me back literally 1-2 minutes later. I explained that Carsen wasn't sick. No runny nose. No cough. No fever. He's talking normal, but is just struggling with every. single. breath. She said to bring him to the ER immediately.





We considered calling the ambulance, but being we're not far from the hospital, we decided to drive. We packed everyone up (Madelyn came with... it was almost time for her to eat... I didn't want to take an extra 10 minutes to feed her and call my mom to come over, and I didn't have any milk for her in our fridge) and headed up to the ER. I sat in the back seat with Carsen on my lap to make sure he didn't pass out. I kept asking him questions to keep him alert. In between some of his breaths, he kept saying "we going to the hospital to see the doctor?". What a trooper.





They examined him immediately when we got there and said his oxygen level, temp, and lungs/breathing all were normal. He has a textbook case of croop. They explained that croop effects 2-5 year olds, and most croop victims come into the ER between 2 am and 4 am. They go to bed perfectly healthy, and wake up, struggling to breathe. They gave Carsen a sterroid shot, which will allow his "breathing tube" to stay relaxed and not close, as it began to at home. The best treatment if it happens again is to bring him outside and breathe in the cold air, which explains why once we got to the hospital, his breathing was much more normal.





After his sterroid shot (which he did NOT enjoy) the nurse brought him in a red popsicle, which Carsen so generously shared with daddy. Then another nurse came in with a big stuffed animal and a book. Apparantly there is a nurse who works the ICU floor who buys animals and books from Kohl's, and tells the nurses to hand them out sparingly to kids who deserve them. She thought that Carsen was a worthy recipient. That's my boy! :)





Besides us all being overly tired today, Carsen is doing great. He has a bit of a runny nose, but nothing that worries me. I had fears that what he was experiencing was the beginning of asthma, an allergic reaction or perhaps pneumonia. I'm so thankful that it is "just" croop. I'm also thankful that this is going to teach Carsen a lesson on giving. Once Carsen is feeling back to his normal, spunky self, he will return the favor to someone else.




As we loaded ourselves back into our van early this morning to head home, I lifted Carsen into his carseat. He said "no mommy... I want to sit in the back with you". Good try, buddy.