Our First Visit to the ER

We had a big night here at Casa Haynes! When I put Kingston to bed last night he had been coughing this terrible, barking cough. He went to bed without a fuss and slept good, as far as I could tell. At about 3:00 he came barrelling out of his room, wheezing, coughing and crying-a combination that was not easy to hear. He was also burning up. I went back into his room with him and tried to calm him down. He calmed, but was still obviously pretty freaked out. I think he was having trouble breathing and it scared him.

I kept my cool somehow, brushed my teeth, put on some clothes and told Kingston that we were going on an adventure. He was game! I convinced Nigel that he didn't need to go with us and off we went to the Emergency Room. It was pretty quiet in there, thank goodness, and my nurse friend Amy happened to be working. As soon as she heard me describe symptoms, she immediately said, "Croup. He has the Croup." She escorted us right back to a room and took great care of Kingston. He got a monitor stuck on his toe and a blood pressure cuff attached to his arm, his temperature taken on his forehead (whew!), his breathing listened to by a few nurses and then he got a juice cup and some Tylenol. Every time he would cough everyone would cringe and say it was definitely the Croup.

The doctor prescribed a steroid that he took by mouth, and about an hour of a breathing treatment of just a cool mist. We stayed for about an hour and 45 minutes, then we headed back home and back to bed. We got great care at The Outer Banks Hospital and we especially appreciate Amy's attention. Kingston was such a brave boy and all of the nurses couldn't stand how cute he was! The doctor even came in to check on him because she heard him from the hall but he was just laughing and playing and not in distress. Final diagnosis-Viral Croup.

So now I'm preparing to go to work on this overcast Memorial Day Saturday and try to focus on something other than my croupy kid. Yeah, right. Hopefully Dad will be an acceptable alternative to having me around. He's not nearly as squishy and cuddly as I am, but he'll have to do!

Here's to hoping my baby boy feels better soon. He is too sweet for all this nonsense!