Night at the ER

Who would have thought that I would be taking Tate to the ER for breathing problems? Smitty had RSV at 10 weeks and spent a week in the hospital. Ever since, he is our wheezy, respiratory guy. Luckily, it hasn't been nearly as bad as we thought it might be and he has no signs of asthma at this points, so we are very grateful. However, it was Tate that was having breathing issues last night. I had a feeling that she might not be feeling too hot, but didn't at all think we'd end up in the hospital! Jeff and I were fortunate to go to the OU game with Michael and Keysha, so our babysitter, Susi, watched Tate, Smith, Kennedy & Corbin for us while we were gone. When we got home, she told us that Tate hadn't felt too great and that she would cough a lot after she was running around. But I had never heard her cough yet. Then Tate came into our room at about 2:30am. She literally was gasping for air. Each breath was very loud and it seemed as though she would hold her breath between inhaling and exhaling. Jeff and I were quite concerned, so we finally decided to take Tate to the ER. I get more nervous when it comes to breathing issues since our scare with Smith. So, I got dressed, put Tate in the car and headed for Integris. Of course, once we got there she was much better! Isn't that always how it works! The doctor came in and diagnosed her with croup. He said it's very common for kids with croup to seem better once they go outside in the cold air. I guess it helps to shrink their swollen airways. So, some steroids, a breathing treatment and 3 1/2 hours later, we were back in bed at 6:30am!! What's weird is that she never really had the barky, seal-sounding cough of croup before we went to the ER. It was just her breathing issues that sent us to the hospital. Today, she's had more of the cough, but at least she can breathe!