Croup

The past 4 days have been long and painful for Jillian. She came down with the "croup" last week, and is just now beginning to recover.

Late Thursday evening, Jillian started getting even more congested than she had been the past couple months. We could tell that some kind of bug was getting to her, as she was getting pretty crabby. In the middle of the night, around 2:00 am, she started coughing and promptly urped up a lot of the formula she had drank before going to bed. The coughing and urping continued through the night. Then the fever came on, and it was a hot one. We checked her with the ear thermometer, and it was over 101 F. A little while later, we went ahead and used the liquid thermometer and it came in at over 103 F! Jillian was very warm to the touch, and it was making her very uncomfortable ... she cried and cried. Mommy went ahead and gave her some children's Tylenol to bring the fever down, and it helped some. At this point, Mommy called her workplace to let them know she needed to stay home with Jillian.

On Friday morning, Jillian was still running a fever and was coughing alot. The coughs were painful, and after every one of them, she'd look to Mommy and then cry. Plus, she couldn't keep any food down. Mommy called the Advice Nurse at SWMC, and she advised her to bring Jillian in to a doctor. So, Daddy got off work early and drove Mommy and Jillian to the family clinic in Vancouver. It was a long drive, because Jillian continued to cough and urp all the way there. Eventually, we met with a new doctor (can't recall the name), and he listened to us tell him the symptoms, immediately telling us that Jillian probably had the "croup". Since it was a virus, we could only wait it out, probably 3 or 4 days. He did suggest some things to help relieve some of Jillian's symptoms, including Ibuprofen for the fever and reducing inflammation, Afrin to help drain the sinuses ... and to help breathing, either a steamy bathroom or going outside into the cold.

Unfortunately, this was the Yakima tournament weekend for the club volleyball team that Mommy and Daddy coaches. Jillian was in no condition to travel (especially this 3-hour drive), so, Daddy went ahead and took the team to Yakima, while Mommy stayed home with Jillian. Here's Mommy's report on how that went:

"Saturday morning Jillian was very congested and still had a low grade fever. We tried several liquids, but she was unable to keep anything down. Jillian was not interested in playing or being left alone, so Mommy had a full upper body workout packing her around. Jillian and Mommy went through many changes of clothing that day. On Sunday Jillian was feeling a little better, but it was a challenge trying to get her to drink anything. I called Cindy and Scott and they picked up some popsicles and electrolyte fluid. Jillian loved the cherry popsicle. She ate about half a stick and then tried some water. Finally, something that would stay down. As the day progressed Jillian began to take in more fluids and keep them down. Her fever finally broke late in the evening. The cough still bothers her, it sounds horrible, but she is feeling much better now."