I had the scariest moment as a Mom on Wed. with Ella. She woke up that morning with an awful sounding cough and didn’t seem quite like herself. I got a call from daycare around 11 saying she had a temp and was definitely not feeling well. Since Ella didn’t have a good night as she was up a few times (that is not normal for her either) I decided to make her an appointment with the Dr. for 2:30 that afternoon. Once I got to school she seemed very lethargic with a high temp and no appetite. By the time I got to the house her breathing was extremely labored and it was almost like she couldn’t breathe?! I called Rob in a panic thinking I should head straight the ER. Rob talked me out of that and suggested that I run up to the Pediatric office. I was so hesitant because I knew the Dr.’s office was closed for lunch. Well I was beyond panicked at this point so I ran into the office like a crazy Mom. I was crying and apologizing for running in during their break. I explained that Ella was not breathing well and didn’t know what else to do. They were AWESOME! They immediately took Ella back, evaluated her, gave her a strong steroid shot and set her up on a breathing treatment. She had croup and WOW was that just scary! The Dr. explained to me that croup in young children attacks so hard and fast. An infant’s airway is already as small as a straw or smaller so if that is inflamed and swollen then really it is extremely difficult to breathe.
Of course Ella hated the shot and hated the breathing treatment even more! She screamed and screamed—which was helpful to get the medicine from the breathing treatment in her—and screamed until she finally gave up and fell asleep! Whew!! I felt horrible for Ella. I was trying to hold her down in this tantrum while administering the treatment. I was sweating bullets and still trying to get a handle on what had just happened within the last hour. After the shot and the breathing treatment, her breathing was still not 100%. As precaution, Dr. MacDonald sent us over for some chest and throat x-rays to rule out more swelling or pneumonia. Luckily that all came back normal.
Ella was on oral steroids and breathing treatments for another 4 days. Finally on the following Monday you could see a significant improvement in Ella although all this junk turned into a bad cold that lingered for several days.
I am SO THANKFUL Ella is ok and appreciate all the hard work and dedication there is at the pediatric Dr.’s office!
Love this little girl!!!!
