Poor sweet Meo had croup again (third time). On Friday, he had a really bad runny nose after we came inside from our walk. I attributed it to the cold and the canine that was pushing its way through (and as of yesterday is out! 12/16/2012). But after a very long night of constant nursing, Meo woke up Saturday morning coughing. At first when he woke up it was just a little mix of cry and cough, and I was so tired of nursing I told him "all done" and was patting his back. That seemed to feel good and he ended up falling asleep belly first across my tummy. When he woke up an hour or two later, he was coughing up a storm; a croupy cough. This was worse than any other croup cough I had heard and when I couldn't get him to calm down immediately, I stuck a hat on him and wrapped a blanket around him and ran outside with him as Robbie chased after me insisting I at least slip some shoes on (as there was frost on the ground). I sang to him and walked him around the yard, and while the coughing stopped, his breathing was labored and he made harsh wheezing sounds both on intake and extale. This difficulty with taking breath in is referred to as strider, and he had never had that problem when he had croup before, so I knew we needed to get him to a doctor. So I brought him inside to see if steam in the bathroom would make a difference while Robbie called the on-call nurse. We are very fortunate that our pediatrician moved to a new office, and that the office she is now affiliated with has a weekend clinic. We were so worried that we were going to have to pay for an emergency room visit on top of all the other expenses we already can't afford, but when the nurse was able to make us an appointment that afternoon in the weekend clinic, we were so relieved!
The steam in the shower, mixed with cold air pouring in from the window really helped his breathing...although he was still wheezing a little bit. I needed to take a shower before his appointment so I ended up bringing him in the shower with me while Robbie made breakfast, and Meo was relaxed and happy enough to play with his bath toys. He was even able to eat breakfast without any coughing fits. We were just going to give him some yogurt and applesauce since we were worried about him coughing again and choking on his food, but he was eating really well and was insisting on eating blueberry pancakes with us. So we let him and he ate like a champ.
On the way to the weekend clinic, our poor baby fell asleep and I felt so bad waking him up. But I didn't want to miss our appointment, and we were already running late!
Sleeping sick baby (16 months)
We got to see a nurse practitioner right away, and he verified that Meo had a bad case of croup. He said that croup is going around right now and he had already seen over a dozen cases of babies with croup that weekend. His first suggesting was to have Mattimeo breath through a nebulizer to help his airways relax and open-up. I was skeptical about how that would work since I couldn't even keep the germ mask on his face but we decided to try it out. That did NOT go over well. He was great for about 15 seconds, then he absolutely hated it. It took all my strength to hold his arms down so he would stop ripping it off, and even then he still kept managing to squirm out. Not only that, but he was NOT relaxed, not even a little bit, which kind of defeated the purpose of the device.
Meo wearing a nebulizer
He was crying big crocodile tears and working himself up so bad that he was starting to cough again. I took the mask off and turned off the machine and told Robbie to go get the nurse and tell him that wasn't going to work. The nurse agreed, and decided to try an oral steroid (which is what I think we had in the past anyways) instead. So Meo had a dose of Dexame Thasone crushed in yummy applesauce, which he accepted readily. We then just had to wait for the medicine kicked in to make sure he didn't have any reactions. Robbie read him a book, and the wheezing eventually started to go away.
At home, Meo was happy, but he was also tired and didn't want to be left alone. My parents were coming over that night and I still had to make a lasagna for dinner, so Robbie ended up wearing Meo so that he would take a nap without me having to take one with him (although I probably could have used one). Meo fell asleep pretty quickly, and we got done all the chores we needed to.
Croupy baby napping on Daddy
And we had a great dinner with my parents! I made a yummy vegetarian lasagna with spinach, kale, cottage cheese, walnuts, fresh Parmesan, mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, especially Meo. He loved it! That was the first time my dad had been able to make it out to see our new house, and I was very excited to them over. Thanks for the company and the yummy wine!
Dinner with Memere and Pepere
That night, Meo still didn't want to sleep alone. He ended up falling asleep on my lap on the couch, so Robbie and I just relaxed and watched a couple episodes of Doctor Who while eating Gifford's coffee fudge ice cream.
Meo sleeping in my arms
In the morning, Meo was much better. He had no more croupy coughs and was no longer wheezing. In fact, he was very busy playing with planes and cars and flashlights with Daddy.
Driving on Daddy's legs
Flying on Daddy's legs
Big yawns for Daddy
Learning about flashlights
Robbie and I had pre-ordered tickets to see the Hobbit and decided that Meo was well enough to hang out at my mom's so we could still go. He did great! At first he cried a lot because he really wanted to be nursed, and was even ripping at my moms shirt. But she rocked him in the rocking chair and made up a song and started singing very loudly to him and was able to get him to fall asleep for over an hour. She said he woke up happy with a big smile on his face and started playing in his playroom with her.
Meanwhile, Robbie and I were having a wonderful date. We had been looking forward to seeing the Hobbit for over a year. Robbie especially had been watching lots of making-of documentaries, reading reviews and reread the Hobbit, getting himself psyched up for the film. I was just as excited, but I prefer to have no preconceptions of the movie before I watch it and stayed away from most media about it prior to watching the film. I had fun getting dressed in my hobbit-like shirt though!
Feeling hobbit-like
We got to the movie plenty early, but they weren't going to open the doors for another 20 minutes so Robbie and I waited outside in the snow. This was the first true snowfall, and it was beautiful and cold. A great huge line formed, but we were like the second people in line.
Waiting in line for the Hobbit
Waiting in line for the Hobbit
Waiting in line for the Hobbit
The line behind us
Since we were one of the firsts one, I got to choose the best seats in the theater to watch the Hobbit in 3D IMAX. The movie was absolutely amazing. I really, really loved it. The visuals were stunning, the music hauntingly beautiful, the acting was superb, and it portrayed the first part of Tolkien's tale magnificently. I wish I could watch it again and again, but I'll have to wait until it's out on DVD. I'm so glad Robbie and I were able to get out and see it together.
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