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Filed Under Henry&Charlie on August 29, 2008

We took Charlie to the emergency room last night, because he was having trouble breathing. I wish there were a way to make that funny, but hoo boy it was NOT. Wade had gone up to the playroom, where our desk computer lives, to check his email and he heard Charlie gasping for breath; when we turned on his light, his lips were purple and he was wild eyed and terrified. This morning I was thinking about what might have happened if Wade hadn’t gone to check his email, if he had stayed downstairs with me, where all we could hear was the television.

Not funny.

Charlie has croup; he’s still sounding kind of froggy today. He’s also tired because we spent three hours in the ER waiting room, you know, waiting. And also watching Hannah Montana because apparently there’s some rule against watching good TV in the ER waiting room. There also appears to be some rule about not turning the volume down to a reasonable level because holy hell it was loud. No one needs to hear Billy Ray Cyrus that loud.

I’d never seen Hannah Montana before and perhaps a visit to the ER wasn’t really the right situation in which to experience the phenomena of Miley Cyrus for the first time, but honestly I hated it. Then again, I was a little stressed and pretty cranky, so who knows. I probably shouldn’t blame poor Miley.

(You know Miley wasn’t her real name — it was Ruby or something like that — it was a nickname because she was such a smiley baby, and then she had it legally changed. Insert eye roll here.)

The triage nurse told us that Charlie likely had croup and not pneumonia, and she gave him Tylenol for the raging fever and then we sat and sat and sat in the waiting room where of course he had no trouble at all breathing properly. The other patients were nearly all people who were treating the ER like a primary care physician’s office and were in need of throat cultures or follow ups for ear infections, and at some point we realized both that it might be 3:00 am before Charlie saw a doctor AND that croup was something our primary care physician could treat for us, so we went home, without seeing a doctor. Charlie slept in the bed with me, and aside from coughing a little was fine.

I, of course, was awake for most of the night waiting to see if mah baybee was going to stop breathing and dieeeee. Which he did not.

Today we saw the pediatrician; she confirmed that indeed he DOES have croup; she gave him an oral steroid to prevent any more scary not-breathing episodes and also to help him bulk up for soccer (kidding! ha ha so funny). So all’s well that ends well! I guess.

*Last spring my next door neighbor took her son to the ER for — guess! — croup, which he still refers to as “floop.” I love that. Also, when we realized that Charlie needed to see a doctor pronto last night, we called the same neighbor, who came over in her pajamas and slippers to stay with Henry. I just love her, I truly do. We are NEVER MOVING.

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Oh, no, what a rotten night!
My husband had croup many times as a baby and child. My mother- and father-in-law love to tell a story about rushing my husband to the hospital with croup when he was five and only realizing after they’d gotten there that they’d left his little brother at home alone. Because they were so stressed out they FORGOT they had a baby! So cudos to you for remembering that someone had to stay with Henry.
Oddly enough, some of my inlaws find this story funny, but my brother-in-law (the forgotten baby) doesn’t. Can’t blame him, really.
Good luck staying out of the ER and doctor’s office for a while!

We did this in March with our two year old. Of course she was fine by the time we got there too. We stayed though (they weren’t busy, children’s hospital) and she had some breathing treatments. I’ve never been so scared in my life to see her gasping and not able to breath like that. So glad he’s doing better today.

Wow that’s scary! Hooray for steroids and good neighbors.

“Destiny Hope”. She might have changed her name, but she still has the stripper image her original name gives off.

Hope your son feels better soon.

I’m really glad for you that your hubby was in the right place at the right time! Scary…and how wonderful is your neighborhood!!!!!
dawn

Wow, how terrifying! My heart sank in my chest as I read your words. I hope tonight is better and that the rest of you stay healthy.

I’m glad Charlie is okay! I was told that I had the croup when I was a little boy—scary…

Thank God Wade went to check his email. I know how you must thing “what if” as we mothers tend to do, but nothing good can come of that.

I am so glad to hear little Charlie is okay.

What a horrifying night.

Oh, croup is scary. That barky cough and the gasping for air tend to make a mama a little nervous.

Our ped told us a quick solution is to open the freezer and let them breathe in the cold air. Yes, it’s chilly but at least they’re breathing.

Glad he’s okay.

Oh, my gosh. My son had croup, too. So, we both had the stomach bug and the croup bug at our houses in the same week. Yikes. Hmmm, I wonder if viruses (the biological not electronic kind) are leaping through cyberspace now.

Awesome neighbor! Last winter we took our three year old in to the ER for croup and, as you said, started breathing perfectly well on the car ride. She got the steroid anyway. It’s a miracle drug, I swear.

Quick recovery to your boy!

He didn’t have that tell-tale barking cough? Odd. But next time you can alleviate the throat swelling by putting him in front of an open freezer (in winter, cold, dry air - say, in the 20’s - works great). I know all the books say a steamy shower, but the cold air always has worked wonders for us. We’ve been through this a lot, if you have any questions.

I was a ‘blue baby’ when I was born and had chronic lung infections for years. My mom was a single parent (even when she was married to my Dad) and I remember many nights sleeping next to her in bed. I don’t envy your fear and panic and I’m SO glad Wade went to check his e-mail.

I find it interesting that the cold air works so well - my best friend has asthma and whenever she has had an unexpected attack, we put a bunch of ice in a bowl with water and put a towel over it with her head breathing in the cold air - stops the attack every time.

I’m so glad to hear that Charlie is OK.

yep. seconding (thirding? twelfthing?) the advice for either cold air or the steamy shower.

spent many a night in a muggy bathroom…

Oh, Susan. Oh, Susan.

We have had that scary, out-of-the-blue, gasping-for-air croup… scared the crap out of me! I’m glad he’s ok.

Great neighbors are priceless and well worth enduring package stealing criminals and rodents in the driveway. (We have all 3 and we aren’t moving either!)

Oh man, that is scary. Hope the little guy feels better, soon.

Just so you know seeing H.M.anywhere makes me run screaming from the room. I swear I can’t take that little girl’s accent and I am from the South. It is the scarfice that I will haunt my daughter with when she has kids. The worst is that my son wants to watch her, too. UGH!!

I’m just now reading all of this…Wow.

You know what you need? cupcakes and a pedicure and a very large bottle of chardonnay…

I hope he’s doing better now!
We have neighbors like that too - aren’t we lucky?
I’ve done that same ER run. You probably won’t be surprised to hear that I have a special outfit for that particular nighttime activity.

Oh you poor guys! I hate croup! It is terrifying… I hope he feels all better soon!

I hope he’s better soon and everyone has a healthy week or two so you can catch up!

In our house, ” floops ” are the stomach flu. Earlier this year, all four of us had the stomach floops. I very distinctly remember my son sitting on the toilet, throwing up into a bowl, while holding my 10 month old daughter over the sink to puke. Good times!

So nice to have a great neighbor! Hope Charlie feels better soon.

I’m honestly not trying to make light of this situation, but Hannah Montana really is that bad.

I’m glad your son is okay.

How scary! I’m glad he’s okay. Do you have a nebulizer? It’s amazing how they help those coughing episodes!

i’m so glad he’s okay.

My little one had a no breathing problem when he was 2. It was so scary! We were on an 8 hour car trip when the sickness degenerated into scary breathing. Luckily, we found a doc in the box off an exit in Tennessee and got him in there quickly. While the receptionist was asking all sorts of not relevant questions and my baby was gasping, I held him up, thrust in in the window and said “Help me!” I got help. And should I mention that our car was full of Christmas toys and a 6 year old? I just unloaded all the new stuff into the corner of the waiting room and let her have at it.

Oh, Susan! Awful news! I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old and so far we have not had croup. Of course now that I just wrote that, I’m sure one of them will get it, like, tonight.

Good luck, be well all of you!

oh no!
i guess checking email IS good sometimes, eh?

i hope he’s okay today. croup sucks. my kids get it all the livelong winter.

ps. Miley cyrus? real name? Destiny. niiiice.

Oh my goodness how scary for you. And not just the Miley Cyrus.

Glad he’s on the mend, lady.

[…] of all, this is our second visit to this particular ER (remember the broken arm? oh yeah) and our third ER visit in the last little while. She said that in her area, three is the magic number. I was glad […]

[…] next door, someone I can call in a crunch, like when I need to run to the emergency room with a kid who isn’t breathing, or who is bleeding everywhere, or when I need a babysitter recommendation, or when I have been […]

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