Check-up appointment for Croup

After a long Friday night at the East Tennessee Children's Hospital Emergency Room, the doctor there recommend that we call in for an appointment Monday for a check-up on how Reagan is doing with her croup and if it's going away.

I called Saturday morning to schedule Monday's appointment, and I'm glad I did it then!  When I brought in Reagan this morning to her pediatrician, the nurse at the check-in window said that so many people in East Tennessee were calling to schedule an appointment to check on their sick kids today, that the nurse and appointment phone lines had shut down because of the overload of phone calls!  She said that many patients just walked in without an appointment, but many wouldn't be able to get a walk-in appointment anyway because they were already booked for today.  I'm thankful that Reagan was able to get this check-up appointment this morning, especially before we make the long drive up to northern Indiana later today.

We played with Reagan last night to tire her out so she would get sleepy and go to bed.  

 She eventually went to bed near Midnight, but she was still coughing a lot, and neither David nor I could sleep because we were nervous that she wasn't breathing very well and needed us to hold her upright or clear out her mucus in her nose again with our favorite "Nose Frida" tool.

 We didn't get very much sleep and neither did Reagan, but we were just happy that she had her check-up appointment in the morning, so we could see if she had improved at all and if we were able to make the long drive up north on Monday afternoon with her.

The nurses and doctor checked on Reagan when I brought her in at 9:00 this morning, and, although she still had a cough, the doctor said that it was not the awful "barking cough" that comes at the beginning of croup.  The doctor also said that the cough is the last symptom to go away with any sickness.  They pricked her finger for blood and took a sample of her nose mucus to test for another respiratory virus, besides the croup, which is serious for babies, and for the flu.  The nurse came back 15 minutes later and said that, fortunately, Reagan tested negative for both.

 Reagan did not have a high temperature, and she hasn't run a high fever this whole time that she's had the croup, but the doctor told us to keep using the Nose Frida, to use the humidifier and to first bring Reagan with us in a steamy shower in the bathroom, and then to bring her somewhere cold to bring in the cold air, like in front of the open freezer door or outside.

Reagan was smiling more than you would think for a happy baby, so David and I are comforted by the fact that she's not in complete pain anymore.  Wish us luck on our 9-hour trip in the minivan with a 5-month baby and 110-pound yellow lab later this afternoon... we'll get into northern Indiana at 3:00 or 4:00 AM for a pit stop before continuing onto Wisconsin the next day!

Below are information pamphlets about croup and upper respiratory infections that I picked up in the doctor's office while waiting around.