Sad, Sad, Sad

Today is a day I hope not to relive any time soon. Ben woke this morning, struggling to breathe. He'd been coughing since yesterday afternoon and we thought he was coming down with a cold. So, we scheduled an early appointment with our pediatrician and the buddies and I raced out the door.

Our pediatrician quickly diagnosed Ben with croup, a respiratory virus that affects infants and small children. They gave him an oral steroid in the office and then attempted to give him a cool mist treatment. Ben became agitated by the treatment, and when he cried, his breathing problems worsened, so they ran a few more tests and then sent us on to the Children's ER downtown. Steve met me in the parking lot and picked up Ace and took him home.

Ben and I spent the next 5 hours in the ER. After having his chest x-rayed (an awful procedure!) we met a very nice respiratory therapist who got us started on another cool mist treatment. It was naptime, so Ben slept in my arms while I held the mist under his nose and mouth for almost 2 hours. When he hadn't improved after several hours of observation, he was given an epinephrine breathing treatment, which seemed to help tremendously. We are home now, with our prescription medicines, and Ben is sleeping. I'll probably check on him all night long. And although I really hope not to repeat this day, croup is highly contagious so there's a good chance I'll be back with Ace. I'm praying that he doesn't catch it.