Oh, Croup!

We spent the holiday week at my mom and dad's house in Ohio and had a blast there. It was especially fun to see Josh and his four month younger cousin Frankie playing and interacting together more than ever. My sister and I keep joking that they are "besties."

What was not especially fun was hearing from my sister just days after the boys were sharing everything (including, despite our best efforts, sippy cups) that my poor nephew Frankie had come down with croup. He had all the tell-tale signs, from fever to that sad seal-barking cough you never want to hear coming from your own kid...or anyone else's! Poor little Frankie had to go to the doctor, and his case was bad enough the doctor had to put him on a steroid.

Well, at first I thought we were doomed and that it would only be a matter of time before Josh started the seal-barking himself. But a couple of days passed since Frankie was diagnosed and all Josh had was a runny nose. Other than that, he seemed to be his normal, happy self.

Further research would have told me not to get my hopes up since that is how croup starts in almost all cases. And, wouldn't you know it, this morning my sweet baby woke up burning up with fever and coughing that dreaded cough. I tried my hardest not to freak out and called the pediatrician. Luckily, they could see us in an hour.

I gave my little Bubba boy a dose of ibuprofen and an extra dose of love and off to the doctor we went. Fortunately (or unfortunately, I'm not sure yet) the doctor didn't prescribe any medicine for Josh because she didn't (yet) feel the need. She said the best thing would be cold air before naps and bedtimes, drinking fluids and maybe some baby Vicks Vaporub if necessary. He's not really doing the coughing when he's resting (only when crying), so she said it's nothing to worry about too much.

Tell that to a first time mom who keeps her kid out of daycare on purpose to avoid such moments as these...I just hope he doesn't end up getting worse before he gets better!

Of course, I knew he would get sick eventually and I'd rather he have croup than say, cancer...so we're still pretty lucky. I just spent the past 5 minutes walking a bundled up toddler up and down our front walk in the blustery cold, hoping it would ease his little breathing. The things we do for love!!