Had an appointment yesterday. The eight week ultrasound was perfect and the small hematoma they had seen last time was gone, hooray! Our new baby is doing well and our EDD is May 14 2011. Avalon and I have already started calling the baby Rosie (short for Myriam Rose) because we are pretty sure that the baby is the little sister she prayed for. I know that probably goes against all the rules but I was never really one for rules! If it turns out to be a boy...well, it will be a good story to tease him about when he's a teenager ;)
Now the not so happy news...
After my appointment we had a horrible scare with Kieran. I'd left him at home with my dad, asleep, while I went to pic up Avi. He's been a bit congested lately and after he woke up from his nap he couldn't breath. So Dad called 911 and I drove home from Avi's school faster than legally possible. I actually left the car running on the street and jumped into the ambulance as they were pulling out. It was awful and I don't want to hit you with all the details because it will just upset you, but we almost lost him. It's amazing what they can do in a hospital and I thank God for the field of medical professionals that have made it possible to force the human body back into harmony with itself.
I only had to spend one night with him in the hospital once they were able to get on top of it. The diagnosis was Croup. I have heard of this before but I didn't really think much of it, so I wanted to put this quick run down in my blogs just in case this ever happens to you.
Please don't hesitate in taking your child to the doctors or calling 911.
Croup is characterized by a "barking" cough, stridor, hoarseness, and difficult breathing which usually worsens at night. The stridor is worsened by agitation or crying, and if it can be heard at rest, it may indicate critical narrowing of the airways. As croup worsens, stridor may decrease considerably. Other symptoms include fever, symptoms typical of the common cold, and chest wall indrawing. Drooling or a very sick appearance indicate other medical conditions.
The most commonly used system for classifying the severity of croup is the Westley score.
- A total score of ≤ 2 indicates mild croup. The characteristic barking cough and hoarseness may be present, but there is no stridor at rest.[5]
- A total score of 3–5 is classified as moderate croup. It presents with easily heard stridor, but with few other signs.[5]
- A total score of 6–11 is severe croup. It also presents with obvious stridor, but also features marked chest wall indrawing.[5]
- A total score of ≥ 12 indicates impending respiratory failure. The barking cough and stridor may no longer be prominent at this stage.[5]
85% of children presenting to the emergency department have mild disease; severe croup is rare (<1%).
This is a picture of what the air way looks like on an x-ray. (Not his x-ray)
That's why the breathing sounds different than an asthma attack.
Kieran was an 11 and was headed into respiratory failure when we arrived at the hospital. He had a deep pit the size of my fist in the middle of his little chest. It took us 30+ minutes to get to the hospital from where we live I can't bare to think what might have happened if my dad had hesitated to call the EMTs. Six months earlier we had an episode where we thought he might have had this and when we took him in they said it was really mild and it would go away on it's own...That was not the case this time.
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