Shiloh has croup and was up most of the night coughing and struggling to breath. I drove to the ER after finding her in he bed gasping for air and barking like a seal. Before I left, I gave her a breathing treatment that seemed to kick in as we got to the ER. As a mother and a nurse I was so conflicted over what to do. As the mother all I could see was that my daughter was struggling and needed help. As a nurse I knew that there was more at home that I could do for her to get her through this. I sat in the waiting room contemplating the choice to stay and be seen at a huge expense or go home and see how we do with a few more home remedies. I choose to go home after I called a good friend who helped my heart to calm down so that my head could get a word in. It is so funny that if it were anyone else's child I could have rattled off what to do in a heart beat. But when I see Shiloh laboring to breath everything got fuzzy and my mind was a blank.
We came home and steamed up the bathroom for a little moist heat to help open up her airways. Then we got some ice water and a paci and started our long night. She coughed and struggled till about 5am. I took her outside to breath the cold air and that seemed to stop the spasms pretty good. The cold acts as an antinflammatory almost to relieve the cough. So I jumped in bed for a few hours then woke her up to feed her this morning. Her cough is less, though I know that it is worse at night. Right now she is sleeping with some Motrin and Cough Elixir in her system. So say a little prayer for us if you think about it. I have to go to work at 3pm and Steven will be on deck. I am thankful that my mom was with me this weekend. She gave me a little respite this morning to catch some zzzzz's.
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