You learn something new...

I never knew that croup was not just a description of a type of cough but an actual constriction of the airways. He got a chest x-ray that confirmed this diagnosis when it showed his trachea severely restricted underneath his vocal chords. Kyle had been awake all night on Tuesday night with a "croupy" cough and chest retractions which I knew all too well with my years of taking care of Nikolai's asthma. We somehow made it through the night without going to the ER and instead took him to his pediatrician who then advised us to go straight to the ER. So maybe I should have followed my first instinct and taken him during the night anyways.

It was a very long afternoon. We got to the hospital around 2pm and did not get home until after 10. It was made even longer by the fact that I am still so sick with the same flu that sent Kyle there in the first place so here I am in the ER with my baby, pretending not to be sick while they take care of him. They took the cautious approach because of his heart surgery but in the end had to give him the hard core medications anyways (which required an authorization from his cardiologist which took even longer).

He got a steroid shot and as soon as he had the heavy duty breathing treatment his lungs popped right back open and we were finally discharged. The doctor advised us to keep him in a cold room, between 68-70 degrees, so Kevin wheeled in one of our "R2- AC Units" that he uses as loaners for clients when they have to sleep in a hot room for a day or two and cranked it on in the boys room. We bundled him up as if he was sleeping in the snow and he slept without coughing in his 68 degree bedroom for about 9 hours... longer then he has slept since he first got sick on Saturday! I am very thankful for the medication that we have in these days that allowed us to go home from the hospital without an overnight stay again.