The words that no parent ever wants to hear from their child’s Doctor. But those are the words I heard the other morning.  Baby A has been having a pretty rough time lately with a really bad cold. But he started getting better and then literally overnight, he was coughing and the coughing turned to croup.  The cough didn’t get any better after a day or two so we called the Pediatrician to have him checked out, because his breathing was a little different this time. He was still playing, eating and acting like himself for the most part, but this time, he sounded like Darth Vadar when he breathed.

The Doctor and I were talking and she very calmly told me, that Baby A as expected had the Croup cough, but that he also had Stridor, which is something that I had never heard of. I give the Doctor a lot of credit, I guess she saw a little bit of panic in my face and she basically explained the treatment, which was a steriod and if that did not resolve the problem, that we would need to goto the ER for breathing treatments. But, she suggested that we drive with the windows down on the drive home and then also going to the playground, because with it being a chilly day, the cold air will help with his breathing.

So, that is what we did. Got the prescription field, drove home with the windows down and then after his nap, we went to the playground. It was cold running after he and his brother, but it helped. We did not have to goto the ER, this time at least. And I’m sure that at some point, we will, but we were at least able to avoid it for the time being him.

We are almost a week into the cold, again, and I think that we are getting over the hump of the cold. Or I hope at least. But, I will say two things: 1) I hope that you have a great Pediatrician that you trust and that is available, even on the weekends and 2) please look for the signs for Croup and Stridor. Though not super dangerous, from what I’ve read, the Stridor portion can be if not monitored. And even though I love Star Wars, I can’t imagine talking like Darth Vadar is a fun thing.