At 4am on Saturday morning we were woken by J making a weird coughing choking sort of noise and what I can only describe as the sound of her struggling to breathe. Our immediate response was to quickly throw some clothes on and head to the nearest A&E not sure what on earth was happening. After all she had gone to bed fine and this or similar had never happened before
We were sent straight through and into the high priority bed where they ran her observations and told us her oxygen levels were 99-100% which was good news. J normally has good health and although she has had an inhaler in the past she’s not needed to use it this year
After her first set of obs she was walking around being her happy normal self and appeared to have no further obvious issues when she did the same cough again and the nurse raised an eyebrow. After a short while the shift emergency doctor came to see us and said the cough sounded like Croup which is apparently common in 2-6 year olds but it’s normally a Winter month thing
This week J was the third child to come in with the same symptoms and he believed it was doing the rounds. I had never heard of Croup before but I was advised they can’t do much about it unless the child is actively struggling to breathe in which case they can administer something to help free the airways
We were told to head home and monitor it and if we feel she gets worse in terms of breathing at night then to come back and the notes will enable us to go through and seek the appropriate attention and medication. J was likely to have a sore sounding voice and throat in the day but possible wheezing and the barking cough at night for 4-5 days
I am currently typing this on Saturday night, night 2, and J has been in bed for an hour. The hubster is out at the moment and I am sat in silence and refuse to have the TV or even music on so I can hear if anything changes or she starts coughing or wheezing again to an extent that I need to seek medical attention. We haven’t had a monitor in her room for months and I’m half tempted to send him out to retrieve it from my mums house to enable me to constantly hear her and be alert if she needs me or sounds like she’s experiencing difficulties – he will probably tell me I’m worrying for no good reason!
Today a friend asked what goes through our mind and we you cope when your child is sick or you don’t know what’s going on. I think all parents will feel a similar way to us when the hubster summed it up by saying
“you just go on autopilot, hoping for the best and convincing yourself that everything is going to be alright and that your child will come out the other side fighting fit, regardless of how bad the situation is”
One of my worst traits is immediately panicking when I think something’s wrong with J but thankfully the hubster is pretty level headed in these situations and having him by my side at 430am this morning in A&E really helped. I never show her my worry, just the hubster, but sometimes you need someone to remain neutral in the situation and bring you to a normal level and ensure your emotions aren’t fed to your child
I’m hopeful we won’t be there again tonight and that she makes a super speedy recovery but after a nap this afternoon she woke badly and her throat was pretty rough too so I’m not totally confident. We were told it might be a few days of this and she may well get worse in the night as she may not have peaked
Whatever happens the main thing is that the hubster and I will be there to make sure our girl is okay and gets everything she needs to aid that recovery process
Oh gosh, that must have been really scary 😦 My brother struggled with Croup as a child – I remember many nights being woken by that horrid barking cough, then helping my mom fill the bathroom with steam as it was the quickest way to clear his airwaves.
And you’re right, we do go into autopilot for our kids – we had a head vs shelf incident which left X with a split eyebrow. Inside I was a total mess, but managed to stay calm for him (even though he was only 11months at the time). When we got home from A&E I bawled my heart out, and wouldn’t take my eyes off him in case he suddenly seemed concussed.
I hope she feels better soon – it doesn’t look like it’s bothering her too much 😉
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Thank you, she has finally made a full recovery. The daytime you wouldn’t even notice it apart from a slight wheeze to her voice x
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Oh gosh that must have been so frightening, you definitely did the right thing taking her, you just can’t take the chances can you? We haven’t had croup here yet, but I know friends whose children have had it, and they do say it’s frightening. Hope she is much better soon and you haven’t had to go back to the hospital again. x
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Thank you, she made a full recovery by Tuesday and we didn’t have to go back in, lets hope it stays away eh? x
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Oh man its scary! Glad its nothing too serious, but you never can be sure can you?
I remember E had croup a couple of years ago and was seen by the GP in the morning and was told he was fine, by lunch time he was in A&E needing steroids as he couldn’t breathe properly either! Hope she is well soon x #bestandworst
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Thank you, she has fully recovered now, the hubster usually thinks I’m overreacting but went straight away with me so I knew it had scared him too x
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I don’t think there could be anything more terrifying than hearing your child struggle to breathe, what an ordeal for you all 😦 Really hope she makes a speedy recovery
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Thank you, she has made a full recovery and is now back to sleeping through again. It’s been a long time since i had sleepless nights, I’m not cut out for it any more! x
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How scary! I hope she feels better soon!
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Thank you, she has made a full recovery x
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Very scary! You definitely did the right thing. Ella has had croup a couple of times, and it’s horrible hearing that bark. I hope she’s feeling much better now xx
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It sounds so scary and awful when it happens at night and you don’t know what to do for the best. I hope she is doing better now xx
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This is so very scary. You can never take chances and you really did do the right thing by going to A&E. I hope she is much better. Thank you for linking to #PoCoLo x
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Very scary for you! I remember being amased (when I was a teacher) at just how quickly children can bounce back from something! I hope she continues to get much better!
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When my son is sick this is when I wish I am at home in the Philippines as my mother always knows what to do. Me? I am so clueless and I cry with my son when he cries. And you thought that you will get better when your son age. My son is now 5 but when he gets sick I still get the same fear like he is few months old. I dont like it when he is sick =( #pocolo
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