We had a bit of an unenviable early start to our weekend when we were woken before dawn by the sounds of E's very laboured breathing. Concerned as he appeared to be struggling for air, we woke him and were greeted by a very sad baby with a harsh seal like cough that frightened him (and us) each time. Poor babe also had a temp spike of 38.6 (not bad considering how many times we've nursed 39+). Whooping cough was the number 1 illness that popped into my head and given it appeared his breathing was affected, we made the decision to head straight to emergency. Luckily it was a surprisingly quiet night/morning and the triage nurse had one listen to E and admitted us immediately saying that we did the right thing bringing him in as he very much needed to be there.
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The rest of our weekend was pretty low key given Ethan wasn't well but we managed to get a bit done around the house, cleaning out odds and ends in preparation for the latest toy influx to come at Christmas and the arrival of another baby. I even was able to consolidate some of the toys in the playroom and clear out 3 full tubs by rotating some and moving others to Ethan's bedroom ... next up is organising E's big boy room and sorting out the spare room to set it up for B2. I also snuck in a shop for moreunnecessary tree decorations and a quick lunch with a girlfriend Sunday so it wasn't all mummy duty here.
The doctor's assessment told us he was suffering from croup in the higher end with 'stridor' breathing and that he needed a good does of steroids to help reduce the inflammation in the upper respiratory area. Despite being sad and sorry, E was a model patient accepting his medicine (even saying 'ta' to the nurse) and once the meds kicked in, he charmed everyone around during the hours we spent for observation.
Understandably he's been a bit sooky and whingy since we got home but wow those steroids kick in quick and he is much better than Friday morning. I'm warned he will have a cough for a while but it shouldn't be too barky and if he shows any hint of the breathing that took us to emergency, we are to bring him straight back.
So how do you cheer up a sad and miserable sick toddler? You put Christmas decorations up of course! Much to Es delight, we put our Christmas tree and other decorations up to keep him occupied and lift his spirits. It had the desired effect and he us utterly entranced by the tree, decorations,tinsel and the 'reindeer'. He hasn't been too destructive with the tree, only pulling off a few small decorations to inspect but I set it up so that the 'E proof' decs are at his height and we have no lights this year, instead we will put them up around the window behind the tree and they are already up on our balcony. I have to say, I adore Christmas and every time I entered our lounge area today, the decorations gave me the warmest happiest feeling.
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Saturday was an entertaining day with a photoshoot of my entire family for life saving and DHL. they are celebrating a 10 year sponsorship anniversary and elected to profile our family as part of that celebration. We have been members of LS for over 20 years and we have all held a million positions between us, competed, won some prestigious and regarded awards and dad is the National Director. It was a lot of fun just hanging out with my family as it always is and the babies of course loved any chance to see and play with their cousins. E also loved being let loose on the sand and having a little wade in the shallows with grandad.
The rest of our weekend was pretty low key given Ethan wasn't well but we managed to get a bit done around the house, cleaning out odds and ends in preparation for the latest toy influx to come at Christmas and the arrival of another baby. I even was able to consolidate some of the toys in the playroom and clear out 3 full tubs by rotating some and moving others to Ethan's bedroom ... next up is organising E's big boy room and sorting out the spare room to set it up for B2. I also snuck in a shop for more
