Croup

I've been putting off posting until I have pictures from our holiday weekend, but those will have to wait. I felt like it was time for a post :)

Marlee has been sick this week. We noticed she was a bit feverish at the cabin on Sunday, but she was happy as a clam, so we figured it was just the four new teeth she's (finally!) getting. In the middle of the night Sunday, she developed a barking cough and a higher fever, so Monday morning meant a trip to the pediatrician.

I was pretty sure it was croup...I've had a good bit of experience with it. Not only did it pop up all the time when I worked at the preschool, I also got a taste of it many years ago. When I was 13sih I was babysitting Alexander and Jenna...I think Jenna was about a year old. Out of nowhere, Jenna started coughing, and it didn't take a doctor to know that it was NOT a normal cough. She was having trouble breathing. I called a family member who was a doctor, and he advised me to sit in the bathroom with her and let the hot shower run. I did, and in the meantime called the restaurant where our parents were eating (ah, the days before cell phones). As we sat in the bathroom, Jenna would occasionally stop coughing...not because she was feeling better but because she wasn't breathing. She turned blue twice, and I called 911. The paramedics beat my parents home and had an oxygen tube in Jenna's nose before I could blink. It was the scariest moment in my life, and I know you don't mess with croup.

Fortunately, Marlee's never got that bad. Steroids helped open her airways, and four days later, she's a bit perkier, and although she still has a nagging cough, it's not the stridor-sounding bark of croup.

On a fun note, we've been spending lots of extra time at home. Croup is very contagious, and steroids can weaken the immune system, so we didn't leave the house until today. Because Marlee can now identify her alphabet letters, we spent our extra free time working on the sounds they make. She can tell you the sounds of about ten of them! The kid constantly amazes me.