Croup: Season 8, Episode 1 (Elijah)

I did not see last night's croup episode coming AT ALL, which is rare for me. Elijah was showing a few tiny signs of sickness yesterday, but I was so consumed with Sammy's strep that I didn't give croup a single thought. He woke up around midnight gasping and I knew he needed an epi neb asap. We got him downstairs and thankfully we were able to find the neb quickly since we haven't had to use it in so long. He was scared and was borderline panicking, which always makes things so much worse. I tried my hardest to appear calm so he would calm down. We turned on a show and let the racemic epi do its thing. When it was done he still had stridor, but it was manageable. We gave him a dose of oral steroids and I brought him to bed with me for a few hours so I could listen to his breathing. I loved that he kept reaching for me and wanting me to wrap my arms around him. :) After a few hours, Dan brought him back to bed and the rest of the night was uneventful. He was up extra early, thank you, Daylight Savings. This will happen for at least the next week.

I kept both boys home from school today, Sammy because of strep and Elijah because of after effects of croup. Despite not having slept much and having steroids in his body (usually these make him super irritable), we had a pretty awesome day! Both boys weren't at full capacity, but feeling good enough to play a bit and snuggle a lot. We barely got out of our pajamas today and took advantage of sickness-related technology privileges. :) Dan and I have implemented a no-technology rule on all school days, so today was an exception!

I'm wondering if the germs that infiltrated their bodies conspired with our boys because their dual day of sickness coincided with a very important day. As I walked bleary-eyed out of my bedroom this morning, this is the sign Elijah held in front of me.

I said, "Oh, how exciting!!" and then told him that I wasn't going to just go buy it. So he and Sammy grabbed their wallets and pooled the money and gift cards (thanks, Grammie and Gramps!) that they've been saving and presented me with enough money to cover a dvd purchase. So being the nice mom that I am, I went to Target at 8:00 this morning and bought their beloved dvd so my sweet sickies could enjoy it today. They were soooo happy.

They are both doing much better tonight and I plan to send them to school in the morning. Phew, another sickness under our belts! Getting on with our week now. Thanks for peeking in!