The Day The Ambulance Arrived

It started last night.

Mr L took both the boys to bed, Baba had been off school, due to a hideous cough and temperature and both the boys seemed to have conjunctivitis. As soon as they went up there I heard the coughing.

And I sat and I waited.

Neither got better, but there was a distinctive noise like no other that I heard.

One that I have heard so many times before.

The croup cough.

The cough that fills me with dread, that has meant so many days, nights and early mornings in A and E. With your baby struggling for every breath but still screaming at every piece of oxygen given to them.

But last night it wasn’t Baba the pro with croup last night it was Boo.

It started late last night but it was just the cough there was none of the struggle for breathing and in between each cough he was completely silent and didn’t seem to struggle at all. So we decided we would let him be and would take him to the GP this morning.

This morning Boo woke at 6.45 and instantly I could tell he had a temperature, a quick check and he had a temperature of 39 degrees. I knew that he wasn’t going to last until 8.30am for the doctor. I called Mr L and he was only half way to work so turned around to take us to A and E.

And then I changed Boo.

I knew he was struggling to breathe, he was no longer silent.

But I didn’t really know how much he was struggling.

Every breath he took I could see all his ribs.

And his whole chest concave.

I didn’t wait for Mr L.

I called the ambulance there and then.

Both arrived at the same time.

And after some oxygen and checks the paramedics decided that the best action was to take Boo to A and E just as a precaution.

We had a few minutes of running around, while I got dressed, we got Baba dressed who was still ill and was off to the doctors for once and for all today after he coughed all night and had a raging temperature throughout the night. I had to ring Mr L’s parents and my parents and arrange for my parents to have Baba and get him to the doctors. And pack Boo a bag.

Boo and I left in the ambulance, with Mr L going to drop off Baba and follow us behind.

It was all a bit of a blur, but one where I wasn’t worried at all. I have been here so many times before it was something that I knew had to happen and the quicker we got him sorted the better.

While in the ambulance they did more checks and observations on Boo. A babies reps for breathing should be around the 40-50 mark Boo was doing 60 per minute. Pulse rate should be around 120 his was 199, but his oxygen he was receiving was 98-99% every ounce of him was going into taking his breaths. And if he carried on he would basically just wear himself out.

I was told we did the right thing, it was the exact right time that Boo had to go in to hospital not too early and not too late!

Once we were in A and E we had more and more observations, and doctors seeing Boo. Eventually it was decided that Boo needed to have a steroid medicine to help him breathe easily and that he would have to be observed for four hours so we had to be admitted to the children’s ward.

While all this was happening Mum was at home with Baba getting him a doctor’s appointment that she only managed to get for tea time, and he was being a complete star for her.

We got moved fairly quickly to the Children’s Ward and were put into the Assessment Unit where we had a lovely nurse and had two lovely doctors. Neither thought Boo had conjunctivitis just gunky eyes, both agreed that he may have a sore throat as he really does sound it, but neither could see as he wouldn’t open his mouth fully. But they both agreed that he had croup.

So we stayed in for a bit longer and all in all we were in hospital for five hours before they let Boo leave with a 24 open access to the children’s ward. By this time he was knackered he just wanted to sleep but being prodded and poked and observed every hour meant he couldn’t get a good sleep and he needed it.

We got home and collected Baba and chilled until he had to go to the doctors.

Mr L took Baba to the doctors while I stayed at home with a screaming Boo. Something that he had been doing from the moment he got in from the car once we got home.

Baba has been ill for weeks and weeks, I personally think he has had bronchitis as well but we have been told he has a virus and it has been left. The poor boy has had more time of school this term than any other, and has really struggled with his temperature and his coughs. Finally a doctor listened and he got given an inhaler something that we have repeatedly been told he has grown out of needing a lot recently.

So now he has to have this inhaler four times a day every day for a month, two puffs each time with ten breathes taking it in via his spacer. If he still has a cough at the end of this month then he has to go back to get another inhaler.

So this may not cure him, but at least he hasn’t been left to fight it on his own so hopefully we will get our happy little boy back rather than the tired lack of sleep child that we have had for the last six weeks.

As for Boo he is sleeping currently soundly next to me. Every time we try to all sleep he screams so Mr L is sleeping and we may have to take shifts tonight so he will take over later! But until tomorrow morning we wont really know…