The Long and The Short of It

The last several days:
* At the end of last week we were all starting to get over our colds.
* Saturday we worked hard outside in our yard, trimming and cleaning.
* Saturday night Brandon suddenly started coughing with a hint of strider.
* We rushed him outside into the foggy cold air and his breathing calmed down.
* Sunday morning we decided it would be better to keep him home from church--he was just starting to get over a cold and if the cough the night before was any indication, he was already starting to get another one.
* Supper time on Sunday he started coughing again.  We took him outside for a while and it sort of calmed him down.
* He managed to sleep for about three hours before the strider came back.  Bryan sat outside with him for a while again, we tried an onion poultice and various other methods, but by 11pm he was starting to gag, cough, and panic from not being able to breathe.
* I rushed him to the ER while Bryan stayed home with Micah. 
* They gave him another albuterol treatment, mist/steroid neb, and a shot of decadron.  We stayed for two hours.  The doctor started mentioning admitting him if I wasn't comfortable taking him home.  We were down to just the cough, so I said I would try taking him home. 
* We got home at 2:30am.  By 3:30 am Brandon was panicking again and the strider was back.  The doctor had mentioned several times how dry it was that night and there were several croupy kids in the ER because of it.  So, instead of rushing him outside, we sat in the bathroom with the shower running on full hot to create steam.  Meanwhile, I'm thinking in my head I should be getting dressed and taking him back to the ER.  Thankfully, the steam worked and he managed to sleep for a couple more hours.
* Monday, mid-morning, the ER doctor called us (completely unheard of in my book!) because he was concerned about how serious the strider had been the night before.  He heard Brandon still coughing  and said his coughing should have been better than that by then and we should get him in to his doctor. 
* I called right away, but we couldn't get in until 7pm.  At his appointment, the doctor decided to give him another dose of decadron. 
* Brandon slept for 13 hours straight that night.  Micah, on the other hand, woke up several times.  I had moved him in to the guest room so he wouldn't get re-infected with the virus, but by Monday night he obviously had another cold as well.
* Tuesday night I got up six times with Micah and Brandon's cough woke us up another three or four times. 
* Today, they both seem to be doing better, but for Brandon, this is the most difficult stage because he has energy and wants to run, but the more active he is the worse his cough is, especially at night.  It's a vicious cycle.

So, here are pictures of what our household looks like when croup is around:

Micah got abandoned to finish supper on his own for a while.

The nebulizer stays out and is used 24/7.

The boys watch lots of movies because it's so important to keep Brandon quiet.

The mystifier runs 24/7 in the boy's room.

We play LOTS of quiet games.

So that's what our week has looked like.  I've put our house under quarantine and Friday will start disinfecting and washing everything that can be washed.

Praying you've had a healthier week.
Blessings.