Are you wondering how to have a good time on Christmas Eve? I know, I know!
Spend it in the emergency room, in a city you don't even live in!
Sound like a good time? IT IS, believe me! (Don't.)
Yes, everyone is fine, and yes, we really spent some time in the e.r. on Christmas Eve. After putting Brandon to bed at my in-law's house, he woke up crying and coughing, but not just coughing... barking like a seal. Though we'd never had any of the boys crop up with croup, as soon as I heard that cough, I knew that's exactly what it was.
He was having a hard time breathing, just enough that I didn't feel comfortable letting him ride the episode out, so off we went for a good time at the e.r. My mother-in-law drove Nate and I to the hospital, since we didn't know where it was.
Somehow, we lucked out and they got Brandon in right away. It was only 10 p.m., so perhaps it was too early for the drunken idiot injuries and car accidents, even for Christmas Eve, when people had probably started drinking at 10 a.m. Or maybe everyone was already passed out. Either way, it worked out well for us.
They started him on a breathing treatment, which required a mask to his face, which he LOVED. It was super awesome to hold down my already struggling-to-breathe child and force a mask over his face, causing him to cry and bark and struggle to breathe even more, and THAT was sarcasm, folks.
Eventually, he got over it, calmed down, and allowed the mask to remain over his face without too much of a fight. I don't want to brag or anything, but it was totally due to my rousing rendition, in mynails-on-a-chalkboard Celine Dion-like voice, of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."
He fell asleep in self defense, just to get me to stop singing, I'm sure.
Three hours later, he was released, with instructions to take him out into the COLD air if it happened again. We're actually not supposed to use warm moist air (like steam from a shower), because cold air is what helps bring down the inflammation that causes the barking seal cough.
As we were leaving, knowing that our kid was going to be fine, it was time to crack the inappropriate jokes to cope with the stress of what had happened and diffuse tension, so I asked Brandon if he wanted to go down to the wharf so he could "talk" to the seals, and my mother-in-law cracked that we could probably just set him out on their deck and they'd still hear him.
And things like that. The rest of Christmas was fantastic, or maybe it just seemed like it was because hey, we weren't in the e.r.!
Spend it in the emergency room, in a city you don't even live in!
Sound like a good time? IT IS, believe me! (Don't.)
Yes, everyone is fine, and yes, we really spent some time in the e.r. on Christmas Eve. After putting Brandon to bed at my in-law's house, he woke up crying and coughing, but not just coughing... barking like a seal. Though we'd never had any of the boys crop up with croup, as soon as I heard that cough, I knew that's exactly what it was.
He was having a hard time breathing, just enough that I didn't feel comfortable letting him ride the episode out, so off we went for a good time at the e.r. My mother-in-law drove Nate and I to the hospital, since we didn't know where it was.
Somehow, we lucked out and they got Brandon in right away. It was only 10 p.m., so perhaps it was too early for the drunken idiot injuries and car accidents, even for Christmas Eve, when people had probably started drinking at 10 a.m. Or maybe everyone was already passed out. Either way, it worked out well for us.
They started him on a breathing treatment, which required a mask to his face, which he LOVED. It was super awesome to hold down my already struggling-to-breathe child and force a mask over his face, causing him to cry and bark and struggle to breathe even more, and THAT was sarcasm, folks.
Eventually, he got over it, calmed down, and allowed the mask to remain over his face without too much of a fight. I don't want to brag or anything, but it was totally due to my rousing rendition, in my
He fell asleep in self defense, just to get me to stop singing, I'm sure.
Three hours later, he was released, with instructions to take him out into the COLD air if it happened again. We're actually not supposed to use warm moist air (like steam from a shower), because cold air is what helps bring down the inflammation that causes the barking seal cough.
As we were leaving, knowing that our kid was going to be fine, it was time to crack the inappropriate jokes to cope with the stress of what had happened and diffuse tension, so I asked Brandon if he wanted to go down to the wharf so he could "talk" to the seals, and my mother-in-law cracked that we could probably just set him out on their deck and they'd still hear him.
And things like that. The rest of Christmas was fantastic, or maybe it just seemed like it was because hey, we weren't in the e.r.!
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Glad to hear Brandon is fine now :)
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteAwww poor little dude!
ReplyDeleteHaving to listen to you sing, that is!!
Hahahaha
Glad he's feeling better. My household got sick Christmas Eve too, which is always nice... but no ER visit required.
Yeah, it was terrible... for him!
DeleteGlad you didn't have to go to the ER. Hope everyone is feeling better!
Poor thing! I'm glad one treatment was all it took and they didn't keep him overnight. No fun waking up Christmas morning in the hospital. Did you throw him some fish for Christmas breakfast? Make him walk on his front fins? ;)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year babe!
HA! If only we'd had some fish...
DeleteThank you for your well wishes. I hope you all have a very happy New Year, too! Be safe!
We did this with my daughter not too long ago, but we got sent home with a nebulizer to do treatments EVERY 4 HOURS for days. I wanted to drunk myself into oblivion after every treatment...
ReplyDeleteI hope Brandon is feeling better! And I hope your New Year's celebration is significantly less exciting. :)
Oh jeez, that does not sound like any kind of fun! Thankfully, we escaped the home treatment hell, and I would have wanted to drink after each one, too!
DeleteBrandon is on the mend, thank you! And yes, here's to a very quiet New Year's Eve! Hope yours is safe and lots of fun!