I should have known when she has been unusually obsessed with her paci.
I should have known when I heard the "funny noise" in the middle of the night, which I knew was her coughing.
I should have known when she had a temp of 99*, even though she ran around for a half hour straight, singing "The Wheels on the Bus".
I should have followed my gut and cancelled my plans, yet again. Instead I sent Chickie to my mother in laws so I could go to the dentist and go clean my aunt's house, which I had cancelled the previous two weeks (due to me being sick and the weather.) My little Chickie is sick. Croup. I knew it when I heard her cough at 5 am Tuesday morning. It woke both of us up. Matt didn't believe it was her coughing and went searching for the noise. It was just two little coughs, but I had a pretty good idea where it was headed. When she woke up she was coughing a little bit. She had a very low grade fever. I gave her some Motrin and got us ready for our day. I made the judgement call that many many moms make every day. Should I stay home? I don't often have plans. And I almost never have something going on that can't be rescheduled. Matt was due for a dental appointment. I could have sent him instead. And my aunt would have understood if I had to cancel for the third week in a row. But alas, I decided to push through. She didn't seem that sick. And my mother in law tells me she wasn't. She was just fine. Until about noon. Then she ran out of steam and spiked a fever. 101 something this time. She gave her some Motrin at the appointed time. But when I got there to pick her up, she was just resting on the couch, watching cartoons. One look and I knew. This was gonna be worse than I thought.
She slept a little on the way home. She seemed to pep up just a bit when we got home. Maybe she was just sleepy? I put on Bubble Guppies and gave her a popsicle. She had been complaining of a sore throat all day. Cough, sore throat, fever. I should have known. I asked if her nose hurt, her head hurt, her ear hurt. Nada. But that cough. That croupy cough. Croup is the inflammation of the vocal chords. It is not the inflammation of the airway, generally. And usually it sounds worse than it is. Or so I am told. But we have been there before, and by 8:30 pm when she was crying and coughing and getting herself so worked up and gasping, we decided to head to the ER for some steroids and a breathing treatment. We've been there before. After examining her, the doctor declared she had an ear infection (wha? she told me her ear didn't hurt!) and mild croup. There is a scale apparently. She was a one. She had the cough, but no retracting. We couldn't see her ribs when she took a breath. She wasn't flaring her nostrils. She was given a steroid and antibiotic. No breathing treatment. The nebulizer employees a stimulant, which is effective, but also can make little ones' hearts race (or really anyones!). I was okay with it. We were sent home and Lily and I had a slumber party in our bed while Matt bunked with the dogs on the couch. She slept pretty well, only waking up crying and coughing a few times. She snuggled right up to me. Sure, it is a queen size bed, but I was almost falling off. I hate that she doesn't feel well, but love how cuddly she is. How much she needs me. Most days are spent with her yelling for me to go away. She slept in and is currently back down for a nap.
And now Matt doesn't feel well. He is home sick today.
I was really hoping this was the week we returned to normal.
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