Alexa's 1st case of croup.
Monday night when we put Alexa down for bed around 7:30, her usually hoot and holler sounded, different. She will sometimes cry or fuss for 5-7 mins before rolling over and falling asleep- a last ditch effort for more books and Minnie. Monday however, her voice sounded very raspy, which I had noticed earlier but thought it was because she was VERY congested- which I think came out of nowhere. I honestly don't remember, but she wasn't sick over the weekend.
I listened to the monitor for awhile and told Ian I was hearing the "seal like barking" or croup, but it was when she would inhale during her cries and she seemed to have a hard time catching her breath. When I mentioned croup to Ian, he talked about how croup is a cough, and she wasn't coughing- good point.
We tried to settle her down but ended up bringing her back downstairs to read books and play quietly. Her cries were worrying me ( sounding like the seal bark) and there was no reason to not keep her awake since she wasnt ready for bed. I texted with a gf who is familiar with croup and got her advice. I brought Alexa into the bathroom with me- while Ian showered- inhaling the steam is supposed to help, but I didn't notice a difference in her. As long as she wasn't crying, she was fine so Ian stayed up with her while I went to bed. I think she was up till around 10 at which point she went right down with no resistance. Overnight I heard her on the monitor coughing a few times, not croup sounding but def a bad cough, but it never woke her up.
Tuesday am she was up around 5:30- very unlike her. She was crying, raspy voice, seemed tired, fussy and hungry. She ate some banana bread, but refused apple sauce (very unlike her) and still had the nasty cough. I told Ian we should take her in and he agreed. She had a low fever- 99.5 and it was decided that he would stay with her in the am- taking her to the dr and I would come home at lunch so he could work in the office.
Her appointment was at 9:40 and at 10:15 I got the text: croup.They gave Alexa steroids and Ian a 1-pager on croup which Ian emailed me. I was alarmed when one of the 1st steps was to stay calm and keep your baby calm. Holly had told me it sounded scary and I was not prepared for that. As a parent seeing your child in pain or discomfort is like taking a knife to the heart! I was worried that she would have a hard time catching her breath and I would have to do something scary like Call 911. Luckily, that did not have to happen. Alexa seemed fine all afternoon (minus a few coughs) and her fever remained low, if it even existed. After dinner (she had a normal appetite) we played and kept her awake. She didn't want to sleep in the pack and play in our room, which I had been told by numerous people to keep her close in case she had difficulty breathing in the night, but Ian assured me she was acting completely fine. He put her down upstairs around 8:30 and she slept all night. I didn't hear her cough once!
The doctor had told me croup was only contagious in the first few days while she had the bad cough (which she never had) and to keep her home if she had a fever. This morning she woke up fever free and therefore I took her to Tara's. I haven't heard from Tara so I am assuming she is doing fine.
So...did she have croup and we caught it VERY early? That is what it sounds like from everything I was reading online. I am very glad Ian took her in yesterday because those horrible nights people talk about when referring to croup would have been us last night if she hadn't gotten the steroids.
I would post some pictures from yesterday, however I am still having issues with my blog! I am so annoyed that I cannot post any pictures and need to look into this further.
Happy Wednesday!
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