KRUP

Alegra kept Shawn and I up most of the night Tuesday night. She was like a "crazed" child. She seemed sort of awake but she was thrashing around and acting in pain. I thought for sure her ears were going to rupture. I was shocked to wake up the next day to no ear rupture (that is how she acts with ear ruptures too).  On Wednesday she seemed pretty much o.k.  She had a nasty cough but she didn't seem to be having it too much that day. Wednesday night was the same thing.  I started to do some reading on the internet and realized that I thought she had Krup. Her cough was terrible at night and she sounded kind of like a seal. She had a hard time breathing and she was half asleep/half awake the entire night. I called Dr. Pete's and took her in on Thursday.  Pete quickly heard her cough and said she had Krup. He checked her lungs and ears but gave us a steroid in the office and a packet to take at home the next day.   Krup is a virus but the steroid helps the throat and lungs calm down so the child can sleep.  Thursday night was like a dream, literally.  Alegra slept soundly the whole night in her bed.  One thing if any of the other kids get Krup, the cool night air can help a coughing attack, which I found interesting. I gave her the steroid medicine mixed with some chocolate syrup today so hopefully she will have another restful night.  When I walked in on Thursday after just being at Dr. Pete's last week with Lexi they said I should have a "frequent shoppers card". It is totally true.  Last fall we went thru a bad spell when I was in there it felt like every week for a month.  Then this spring we had Alegra's ears again, Lexi's 1 year check up, Lexi's potential hernia check (which ended up being an enlarged lymph node), and this week with Krup.  I guess that is the life of a mommy with 3 little ones that are active and like to play!