Croup.... then Pukes....Yuck!

Two weeks ago Gabi had her first bout of Croup. She went to bed sounded completely fine and around 1am she woke up sounding a little raspy and having trouble with her Reflux. I could smell  the acid on her breath and she was really gulpy trying to keep it down. She guzzled down a ton of water and I gave her her meds but it wasn't seeming to help. We gave her some bread and crackers hoping that would calm it enough to go back to sleep. We put her in bed with us... the only time she gets to sleep with us is when she is sick... She slept on my chest the rest of the night which was so nice to cuddle but after a few hours my back was killing me! I noticed her breathing being very shallow and she continued to get worse. I was very worried and like i always do i started googling her symptoms and found that severe reflux can cause croup. I took her into the Dr the next morning to make sure things didn't get worse. This is the first time since she was born that she has had any lung problems so i was extra cautious. Her pediatrician basically told me to double up her reflux meds and told me her lungs had sounded fine. He said if she got worse to call and he could change her prescription. I wasn't very happy because I had told him how shallow she was breathing and she had a horrible barking cough. she did sound better but that was only after we had steamed the bathroom and went outside for 10 mins. The next 2 days she continued to get worse. poor thing could sleep and would wake up gasping for air and panicking  because she couldn't catch her breath. Days went much better and we started sleeping during the day because we were up all night!

The 3rd night was the worst. we had to steam the bathroom or go outside every 2 hours or she was gasping like crazy. The picture above is at 4am she was crying so hard and essentially having a panic attack because she couldn't breath. the only thing that calmed her down was Mickey Mouse! she LOVES Mickey! In fact she knows that the first thing we do in the morning is climb into bed together when she wakes up and we turn on Mickey Mouse. She woke up one morning while she was sick and when I checked on her she held her hands up with tears running down her face and said..." Ickey Bed" I just laughed! That was the first time she said bed and she only says "ickey" when she really wants to watch it! I called the Dr on her 4th day of being up all night and getting worse and worse and he wasn't there so the nurse said I would have to just come in to see another Dr. I was a little irritated. I am actually thinking about changing Dr's because I feel like they are all in a rush to get patients in and out that they don't fully listen to my concerns as a parent. They always answer my questions but never really give me a straight answer and its frustrated. I also don't feel they are completely familiar with the needs of a Down Syndrome child. I decided instead to take her up the street to the instacare. I'm so glad I did! They got me in quickly they were super friendly and patient to Gabi and I could tell that they were concerned about her and getting her well. The Dr knew right away what she had and how to treat it.he said that there was a nasty virus going around that was like Croup but 10 times worse. He said the symptoms are more severe and last way longer. He gave her an oral steroid for 5 days to help open up her airway and help her breath better. Once she was on the steroid she did much better and things were smooth sailing from there. She was a much happier camper! Other than some congestion and her cough she was back to herself.

As the week progressed she also got better and better. I was able to go back to work and she was able to spend the day with Grandma! She was a happy Camper and seemed fine the whole day. When we got home that night she was exhausted and went to bed early. I had just sat down at the computer to update the blog and she began to gag and cry. I ran to her room and she had puked all over in her bed. I was really hoping that it was because she had drank too much of my Diet Pepsi before bed, (she is sneaky and continued to drink it when I wasn't paying attention! my fault!) Well turns out it wasn't the soda at all. She continued to puke every 20-30 mins for the next 8 hours! Pour thing was so exhausted she would wake up crying puke and fall over again. She was so weak we would have to hold her head up to try and make it in a bowl. we went through 5 pairs of pajamas 3 towels, all over her bedding, 5 other blankets, and my clothes. our house reeked of puke!

So so so sick :(

We set up a bed for her in between us and she stayed on it for a bit but she is much more of a cuddler. She likes to be right on top of you The picture below she is laying in between my legs and using my bum and a pillow!

She did much better the next day and only puked  a little bit once. She was still so weak and so exhausted she took a 6 hour nap and went to bed for the rest of the night 2 hours later! She has slowly gained her stregnth and felt a little better but today I noticed she is cutting another tooth! Poor thing hasn't had a break in over 2 weeks! I admire her so much though because even though she has been miserable she has been pretty happy and kept a smile on her face. I really really really hope that we are done with the sickness stuff. We have had enough of our share this winter! I need to start building up Gabi's immune system so its stronger and more resilient to all these nasty bugs going around! Keep your fingers crossed that we stay healthy!