Croup Plus Teething Equals One Poor Little Boy

I had no idea that the first word of my title even existed until Carson decided to obtain it from somewhere. This week is what I would like to call “The Week from Hell”. After going to work on Monday, my sister had told me how grumpy Carson was. She called me once during that day in a panic telling me that she couldn’t get him to calm down. The word “teething” came to my mind and told her to give him some teething tablets. Well, the moment I got home from work, he never quit fussing. I had a long day at work, so I had Dave help me get him to bed that night and he would not let us put him down at all! About 7 minutes after putting him down, he would start to scream. Dave and I were up all night trying to figure out what we could do. We gave him Motrin and Tylenol. We did what we could. He started his fever around 2 in the morning. Nothing was working! Dave finally got him to go to sleep around 4 in the morning. Dave was sweet and let me try to get some rest for work the next day. Dave went to school and I thought he went to work, but he actually stayed home with him for the rest of the day. I got home off of work at 5. I wish I would’ve told Dave to take him to the doctor, but we thought it was his teeth.

Well, that night was another long night for Carson, yet my parent’s took him for most of the second night to help us out. It got worse. Bright green goop was coming from his eyes and you could not get his nose to stop running either. Again, he was up all night screaming and crying. All my parents could do was hold him. I got a call early the next morning from my mom to come quick and call the doctor. I got him in later on in the afternoon and it was diagnosed as Croup. He was given a shot of dexamethasone which is a steroid to open up his airway. The doctor told me that it should take affect in 6 hours. It was nice because Carson slept a while after he received his shot, so we got some rest as well. After he woke up, again the screaming continued. I tried feeding him some food and he was still screaming. All of the sudden, the word “hydration” came to mind. I ran out the door. I grabbed Pedialyte, Gatorade and Propel. The only thing he would drink was Propel. I have never seen a baby drink Propel so fast from it’s original bottle. Carson guzzled it down and the screaming and crying stopped, but he was still a little fussy. I knew the Holy Ghost helped me that night. I was praying on the way to the store, asking Heavenly Father for revelation and I had already received it. I was so blind. I am grateful that I had some help.

Dave and my dad gave him a blessing and the fussing stopped immediately after. Although that night, I was up with him until five in the morning. I stayed at my parent’s house so Dave could get some rest. He has been uphill since then. Dave and I are even on the mend…well, I have started to get sick, but I have things I can do to help me. I wouldn’t wish this on anybody.

We love being Carson’s parents. Although it was a hard week, it was worth it. Spending time with him and holding him all night is something you don’t get to do very often…which is a good thing, but it was nice to be a hero to someone.