I’ve had Salt N Peppa’s “Shoop” stuck in my head all day, except substituted with “Croup”, because life is no longer about “real wild b-boy style by the mile” it’s about croup, steroid treatments & breathing patterns.
So I always thought croup was something your kid could catch, the name of a nasty coughing virus, but the Dr. explained to me today that it’s actually the name of the cough your child might get as a reaction to a bronchial irritant like a virus or allergy. So Samster has some sort of viral bug & her little airways have swelled up causing croup. And let me tell you, IT IS MISERABLE. We were up every hour last night…she’d cough, choke & then get so upset about it that she’d sob & then cough & choke more. She kept crying, “Help me mommy, help me” which of course absolutely broke me heart. We tried standing in front of the freezer (I didn’t want to turn off the alarm & stand outside) but that just pissed her off. The only thing that seemed to work (somewhat) was the steamy bathroom trick. The Dr. did give us a steroid to give her tonight, I think I’ve said about 10 mini prayers already today that it’ll work.
I have to say after staying up all last night with Sam & feeling the way I do today I’m a little freaked out that there’s a newborn on it’s way, the memories of sleepless nights are coming back all too quickly & I just can’t imagine how you do that with a 2 yr old. Is it just 2 or 3 months of misery? Honestly, tell me the truth here…
Oh! And thank you all for your comments about the medicine recall. I actually did not know that it included infant’s Tylenol & Motrin. When it first came out it was only children’s so I thought we were in the clear. Not so much. Every single bottle of Tylenol, Motrin & Benadryl that I have were on that list. And of course by now the pharmacy is completely sold out of the generics. I did find one bottle of generic ibuprofen at CVS, the very last one, I almost dove across the aisle for it. Hopefully her fever will die down before this bottle runs out…it’s still here today but the Dr. said it should be gone by Wednesday at the latest.
You can see the entire list of recalled baby/child products here.
Poor little Sam! My heart breaks when kids are sick and you just have to wait it out. The shower/bathroom trick is awesome. My son has a nasty cough when he was about 2 and it really helped. We also would take a walk outside if it was a little cold, just bundled up. I hope she feels better soon. (For your sake too!)
As far as the newborn along with a 2 yr old–you will get into your own routine. It might take a little getting used to, but it works. And P sounds like a really supportive dad, so I trust that the two of you together will be ok. 🙂
🙁 Hope Sam gets better SOON.
My oldest (Weston) was only 13 months when baby #2 (Gray) was born. The thing I found difficult was that Gray wanted to be held all the time. I would definitely recommend investing in a Moby wrap. It will make comforting a newborn and running after a 2 year old a lot easier for you. The good thing about Sam being older is that she will be able to help you out, and letting her do so will not only make her feel included, but will give you some extra hands for putting diapers in the trash, or spit rags in the laundry.
I think you will find that things get a lot easier after the first 4 months. Once the baby is sitting up and responding to their environment things definitely get easier. You will love watching chum chum respond to Sam, and watching them begin to interact with each other. So while it may seem impossible at first (I clearly remember telling my hubby that I was NEVER doing the newborn stage again, and I still mean it! Haha), they definitely get better and easier. Just hold off for moments like this….
(Check out February 14!)
http://theferrantes.blogspot.com/2010/02/week-34-365.html
and this (check out January 6th!)
http://theferrantes.blogspot.com/2010/01/week-28.html
Enjoy!
"help me mommy…" – oh my gosh that just breaks my heart!!! Poor baby! That steroid really should help and I will definately be praying that it will for you guys!
My Sammy has allergy induced asmtha now. So we are on breathing treatments as well. I have a nebulizer machine that was handed down to me because of the outrageous cost and the fact that the insurance company dosen't cover alot of it. However it is a choo choo train and it will work for now, but i had to find a mask that would at least make it worth his while. I found a dragon mask and he is more than happy to do the treatments.( he is 5) However if you have to have a machine and mask, here is a great place to go to for very reasonable prices ( plus there are plenty of new in package on Ebay as well) http://www.pediatricsupplier.com/viewall.html
there are fishy masks, dragons, puppy,elephant, turtle. they are all pretty cute. there is also a pacifer one too.
The machine works great for the treatments and I am so thankful because I never knew that he was having asthma attacks, and it was very scary at times. I hope that samantha feels better soon and if I can help with any advice or tell you more about my experiences I would be glad too!!
Jess Jones
Honest answer…for me it was ROUGH! My daughter was 22 months old when my son was born, and he screamed for the first 7 weeks of his life. He hated being here, and I couldn't sleep when he slept, because of my daughter. Just don't be afraid to ask for help! My daughter was so easy, that having a colicky infant was so new to me. My husband was so surprised when I, in a sleep-deprived, hormonal stupor, asked if we could drop him off at the fire station! He's 21 months old now, and we all have so much fun! It does get better. I hope your cutie feels better soon!
Yikes! I had no idea about the recall! Thank you for posting this. I'm gonna check out that link. Oh my goodness, poor kiddo! That sounds terrible. I feel sooooooo bad for her!
So sorry to hear that she had such a rough night… poor little thing. My daughter was 27 months old when my son as born and I remember the first 6 months being rough. My son wanted to nurse constantly and she didn't understand what was going on… However she started attending pre-school part-time when he was 6 months old and it did wonders for her! By then my son was less attached to me so that helped as well.
That's so sad… especially hearing her call out to you and feeling so helpless. I hate it when my 2 yr old is sick. Don't you just wish you could take all the bad away and only leave them with the good?? Yeah…
I'm not gonna lie to you. Having a baby with a 2 yr old isn't a piece of cake. My baby is now 5 months and I am getting up in the night at least once, but usually two-three times per night, still. She is not a sleeper. And the worst part is that my son was such a good sleeper, even as an infant, that I am sooooo not used to this…. 🙂 BUT, there are beautiful moments that make it all worth it. And you will adjust, regardless of what your baby sleeps like.
My fingers are crossed your second is like mine…slept through the night since birth! Hope Sam feels better soon!
Sorry to hear about this! My little had croup when he was 8 months old. It was terrible- he couldn't talk then! The only thing that helped was the steroid. Hope she feels better soon. As far as sleepless nights, I remember about 3, but then they come back once the teeth start popping through.
Poor little thing! My 9 year old has had problems with croup his whole life. It used to scare the heck out of me! Of course it's worse during Spring and Summer because it's usually not cold enough outside at night to do them any good. I started having him suck on a popsicle before he went to bed and if he woke up at night. Also a humidifier running in his room at night seemed to help.
My oldest who will be 3 in a week (tear) always gets a chest cold when she gets a bug. We have our own breathing treatment machine! It sucks when they get sick and there is nothing to do to help them! I would turn the shower on hot, close the door shut off the light and just leave the night light on and sit with her, she would finally go back to sleep and I would take her to bed! At most lasted 4 nights for us!
and on Baby number two, I don't know what it is maybe hormones but I always found it was easy to care for both at night. It helped when they were both tried the next day and you get to take naps with them!!
You'll do great and you'll surprise yourself with two little ones!
I hope she gets better soon. I hate the croupy cough. My one year old has yet to sleep through the night. He had pretty bad ear infections for most of the winter and we just had some bad habits after that. When my oldest is sick it does feel like they are tag teaming me. The first few months were definitely tough! You'll get through though!
My son, 2 years old, got the same thing not too long. he had pnemonia around thanksgiving last year and it's breathing problems ever since. he's developed viral induced asthma which he takes the steriod thru an inhalor as well. the first one is blue (in canada) and opens up his airways and the 2nd one is orange and has the steriods to fight the infecion. it's quite common, i know lots of little ones who are on them and the good news is they grow out of it 🙂 and you were right, steam up the bathroom and bundle them up and walk thru the cold night air – the cold air is straight from the doctor's advice. good luck, I hope she feels better soon!!
and rileys only last a few days! if it got really bad, the ER would give him another mist version there that would turn him around right away. it was like the super hero version of his ornge steriod inhalor.
Our weekends sound the exact same. My 10 month old has a nasty nasty cold that i thought was the croup (it's not thank god) but he was sick all weekend, up every hour with a cough that makes you need to check it every time, lot's of vicks, humidifier, steamy bathroom, and me diving across the aisle at CVS at 12:30 am to get the VERY LAST bottle of generic ibuprofen. I hope Sam feels better soon and that you get some rest, I feel your pain!!
awww im sorry abt baby sam i hope she gets better soon 🙂
my oldest khalese was 4months whn i found out i was pregnant with kayla and she was 11months whn her sister arrived talk abt sleep deprivement but its sooo worth it. they are the best of friends and i wudnt have it any other way. itll be hard but ull get so used to it tht whn ppl ask u how u do it ull say 'its actually not that bad'
Hey just a heads up. Your link for the recall is a bit wonky.
Here's the corrected link for you. It looks like you just transposed a couple of letters.
http://www.mcneilproductrecall.com/
Hope Samster and the rest of the household are feeling better soon!
Hi, I have 2 year old and a 4 week old and it is hard. I avrage 4 hours of sleep at night> We're putting our daughter in a dayschool to help relieve the stress