First ER visit with a child

Well, we had our first emergency room experience with a child this morning. Caleb woke up at midnight last night wheezing and having shortness of breath. He hadn't had any prior congestion before going to bed at all. We watched him all night, and held him upright so he could breathe better. Then around 5:00 am he started running a fever, and I got worried. We had been to the pool earlier in the evening last night, and I got worried he had gotten water in his lungs. Anyway, I wanted to be better safe than sorry. So . . . he is fine. They diagnosed him with croup. After getting home from the ER this morning, he was running around the living room with more energy than he should have had from not sleeping all night (effects of the prednisone they gave him I think!) I was surprised that croup could've come on so suddenly, with him going to bed fine, and then waking up with it all of a sudden, but the doctor said it can happen. She said especially with him starting the fever so soon too, that is another thing that can come along with croup. His lungs were perfectly clear she said, so that was good news. I asked her again, just to make sure, and she verified again that it wasn't anything to do with the pool water. There was a boy who had a dry drowning death in SC recently and it has been all over the news, so that was the first thing that came to mind when he woke up having difficulty breathing.

I am so glad he's okay. He gave us a scare. Ethan has had a cough that has gotten worse over the last couple days, but he hasn't run any fever. I asked the dr at the ER about how likely the chances are that Ethan might have it too. She said older kids usually aren't as susceptible, and that he might have more of just an upper respiratory infection. I have a follow-up appt on Monday for Caleb with our family doctor, so if Ethan is still hacking away then, I'll call and see if I can bring him along too.