We made it 8 months

Until yesterday, I had no idea what croup really was.  I thought it was a nasty cough.  It's a little more than that though.  With Riley, it means a fever over 103.  It also means no appetite, unhappy, not smiling, very drooly baby.  She woke up in the middle of the night and she felt warm.  When she woke up at 7, I took her temp and it was just over 101.  So I gave her some tylenol.  She also had a really nasty cough, and though I had never been exposed to croup, I suspected it.  And her fever went up.  So I called the pediatrician and she said to alternate Tylenol and Motrin.  She also told me they had seen a lot of croup going around, so if her congestion didn't go away when her fever down, then I needed to take her to the ER.  

David and I chatted.  We would try and make it through the night, and head to the pediatrician's office today.  This is how Riley spent the day, when she wasn't cuddled up against David or I.  We did shower and keep her in the bathroom, breathing in the steam.  At 2, her fever was just under 103 so I gave her some Motrin.  An hour later, her fever had not gone down, so I gave her some Tylenol.  

I took her temperature again at 500, and it was 103.2 .  That's when I decided we needed to take her in to the hospital.  

It was a relatively quick trip for us.  We went straight back, once we got there.  It took less than 10 minutes for the doctor to come in.  They decided to give her a breathing treatment and steroids.  Her fever still hadn't gone down, but there wasn't must that could be done about that.  After they gave her the breathing treatment, they wanted to monitor her for a little while, which was the bulk of out time at the hospital.  She was pretty pitiful at the hospital.  She had fever chills and tremors.  She would fall asleep, then wake up and cry until she fell back asleep.  They took her temperature right before we left, and it had gone down, to 99.9.  

I also learned a lot about croup.  The ER doctor was super friendly and explained that it is actually related to the influenza virus.  And adults know it as laryngitis.  The airway in the throat become inflamed.  When an adult's airway becomes inflamed it's not that big of a deal, because of the size of our airway.  However, an infant's airway is much smaller.  So when it becomes inflamed, it cause a lot more stress on their body.  

On the way home, we stopped and got a cool mist humidifier for the girls' room.  It helps with the croup symptoms. Riley's fever returned before she went to bed, but she refused to take any medicine.  We tried for 15 minutes or so and she vehemently she her head no.  We expected a rough nights' sleep but I got up this morning after having slept through the night.  I can hear her moving around and making whimpering noises every once in awhile.  Sounds like she had a restless nights' sleep, but at least it was uninterrupted.  Hopefully, her fever will have subsided when she wakes.  

My New Years Resolution was no hospital trips for 1 year.  Of course, that went out the window in February, when Riley had a four night stay.  However, we made it 8 months.  I think that's the longest stretch in the last 4 years.  Now that's something to celebrate!