Croup is real (and scary!)

Since she's nursing our newborn, my wife is on a crazy schedule right now. At 2:00am the other night, she heard what sounded like our toddler wheezing and trying to open her bedroom window. When she went to investigate, my daughter said that she was, "Scared, Mommy."

That's enough to spook anyone, so with a "HONEY!" I was up. We took her into the shower and created our own sauna (thank goodness for our tankless water heater which doesn't run out of hot water), but that didn't stop the wheezing. As an asthmatic, I could always breathe easier in cold air so we bundled her up and took her outside. The 30 degree cold really helped calm her breathing and she stopped gasping for air. She was able to finally go back to sleep, but her raspy breathing was everpresent.

I thought for sure she had asthma, but a "B" in Biology at Texas A&M hardly qualifies me as any medical expert. Later that morning our pediatrician confirmed my wife's belief that our toddler had croup. This is the second case of croup she's had in the last year, and both times she's picked it up from Waumba Land at church. I guess that not only does North Point Community Church "create environments to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ" but they also create environments where parents can leave sick kids who spread cooties to otherwise healthy kids. I'm sure the situation is not unique to our church, but I've never seen Waumba Land (children's ministry) turn away a kid with a runny nose or a barking cough, though they should.

The pediatrician treated our daughter with inhaled steroids through a nebulizer (the picture isn't of our kid, but how scary is this for a parent?!). That didn't have any effect, though, so my wife was instructed to go to the emergency room at Children's hospital for an epinephrine nebulizer treatment. Epinephrine is adrenaline, which redirects the blood away from the skin and exterior of the body and into your inner organs such as the heart, lungs, etc. The effect is that the person being administered epinephrine will turn as pale as a ghost, and the lips often turn blue as well. Fortunately the nurse explained this to my wife. My daughter fought the nebulizer so I had to hold her down in order for her to take the medication. Within minutes her breathing had relaxed, but we had to wait another two hours to be cleared by the hospital.

She should be back on her feet within the next several days. It was a Valentine's Day I'll never forget. I can't imagine having to regularly give nebulizer treatments to her as some parents must. I'm sure I sound like a paranoid Dad (and perhaps I am), but I'm really hesitant to send her back into Waumba Land.