Although spending a few hours in the emergency room wasn’t part of the plan for last night, that is exactly where Little Dude, my Mom and I found ourselves in the very early hours of the morning.

The Hubby and I awoke to Little Dude crying, coughing and gasping – something we have experienced with him once before, just under a year ago. Croup.

After trying the at-home remedies (first one being walking outside, into the freezing cold with your gasping child), we realized that Little Dude’s wheezing and coughing were still pretty intense.

In our efforts to keep healthcare costs in check, we have a cost-effective way of dealing with such medical emergencies – call the nurse in the family, otherwise known as my Mom. Upon her arrival, she deemed this situation worthy of an emergency room visit, so off we went – leaving the Hubby at home to try and get an hour or so of sleep, as his day was to begin prior to 4 am.

Thankfully, it is just the croup and the dose of a steroid medication and breathing treatment appear to have made a huge difference. Little Dude did get his first visit to radiology, since the ultrasounds they performed on him at under a week-old (when they ruled out a suspected heart defect). A chest x-ray confirmed he was clear of pneumonia.

As you can see, the highlight of the emergency room visit was the breathing treatment. We passed on the offered mask, and allowed Little Dude to be in control of his “big blue straw.” He did a great job, impressing the respiratory therapist and nurses with his ability to follow directions – okay, there was a little playing around, too.

I know I promised a family update post soon, but as you can see, we have our hands full. Hoping to share the recent happenings soon, but my first goal after playing superwoman, balancing a sick child and work? Sleep!

In the meantime, there is still time to enter the contest for the $50 AJWright gift card!

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