My toddler LOVES little compartments and boxes and things with doors or drawers.
He loves to put little treasures in little ‘treasure chests’.
We have a 10 gallon glass brewing jug set up in our bedroom for our spare change. We usually find things that are not money in it.
I don’t know how many ‘magic wands’ he has deposited with the quarters and dimes. There was a ton of Legos, the key to his bank my dad made him, bouncy balls, instruction manuals, flyers from the mail, marbles, and the list goes on.
It is always interesting to see what he comes up with sometimes. Tonight was no exception.
While I was cooking dinner he kept running into the living room and back into the kitchen. He would open the microwave and close it again.
I didn’t think anything of it, because he is always opening and closing it ever since he could reach the button (it is on a low counter). Usually he would tell me dinner was ready, or that he is cooking dinner too.
Tonight after dinner Tyler asked me where a toy is for Baby Sid, to which Ian jumped up and said “oh, hold onasecond. I get it” and ran off into the kitchen.
Ian LOVES stuffed animals. Always has and, I hope, always will.
This love of fluffy, furry, cuddly little friends has led to an abundance of them. My sister loved to pawn my nieces old ones off on us. We would be over there and he would be carrying one around and asked “I take dis home?” and Tante would say “of course you can!”
At first they all lived on his big bed, then when he moved to it they moved to his crib. They would come out periodically for him to play with, but they were hard to get to.
I wanted somewhere they could live, to which he had access, but that would get them off the bed and out of the crib. Baby Sid is going to need the crib soon and it is too hard to change the sheets with 50 stuffed animals living there.
I remember I had a stuffed animal hammock when I was a kid, so I went and got one for Ian’s room. My husband had to put it up because of the need to drill holes in the wall. The drill is his and he uses it for work, so it is usually not at home.
I told him I wanted it above the bed at a height where Ian could reach. So I putt all the stuffed animals in it and showed Ian. Later I came back and this was how I found him….
After my husband put it up, I didn’t like where it was because I thought it looked bad, not because I thought Ian would use it as a hammock!
Now I put them all away and he comes in to take them all out and then take the hammock down too….
If I had my own drill I would have been able to move it after realizing the location was bad.
This boy is going to give me a heart attack one day!
So this time last week I was sitting in the ER with Baby Sid and Mom at Legacy Emmanuel Hospital. If you live in the Portland area and need to take your child to the ER, go to this one (unless of course you don’t have time to choose, then go to your closest one!) They have their own children’s emergency entrance, that’s right, one that is separate from adults. The staff is great and they know how to deal with kids, and parents.
Baby Sid (3 months old) hadn’t been feeling well and earlier in the day he cried and it sounded like a barking seal. Then he was fine, for the most part. Keep in mind this is a very easy-going baby, not a lot of crying, he is a happy kid. I was settling in for his last feeding of the night (because he already sleeps 8 hours! at night) when it sounded like he was having a hard time breathing.
So I called my mom….’Mom can you hear him? should I call the Dr? He is having a hard time breathing’ “YES! call the On-Call-Dr and have them listen to him breath, then call me back”
While talking to the On-Call-Dr Baby Sid started to cough and she said to take him in, it sounds like croup and at that age you don’t take chances. Then she said “have someone ride in the car with you to monitor his breathing.”
Now our oldest is asleep, so I left my husband home with him and drove the 1.8 miles to my mom’s house and picked her up. She drove to the hospital and I sat with Baby Sid, who was still having a hard time breathing, but smiled most of the trip. While the Dr said to monitor his breathing she did not tell me what to do if he stops! but luckily nothing like that happened.
Fast Forward to the front desk nurse checking him out. She says to the duty nurse whom she is passing us to “he has stridor but it’s not too awful.” To which I reply, “well, not awful to YOU!” in slightly good humor.
Stridor is a squeaky sound that is made upon inhalation. It is caused by an obstruction of the breathing pathway. It can be a symptom of both bronchiolitis and croup because in both cases a portion of the breathing pathway is inflamed and narrowed.
His blood oxygen levels were normal but he was taking about twice as many breaths a minute as he should have been. They cleaned out his nose with a vacuum, boy that was fun! and sent his snot to the lab. This improved his breathing rate but he was still squeaking with each breath.
The Dr said his lungs sounded good when he listened with the stethoscope and gave him a liquid steroid to open up his bronchial tubes and reduce the inflammation. Because his lungs sounded clear the Dr said it wasn’t croup but bronchiolitis caused from Sid’s nasal drip.
Bronchiolitis vs Croup
What is the difference between the two?
The main difference is where the inflammation occurs in the lungs.
source: Medicalook
The cause can also be different but certain viruses cause both; like RSV, adenovirus, and parainfluenza, to name a few. There are other causes of each and other symptoms. Treatment is usually the same, steroids to reduce the swelling, and anything else you can do for a cold.
With croup the inflammation is in the trachea, around the vocal cords.
source: Wikipedia
Bronciolitis is swelling or mucus build up in the bronchioles. These are the smallest airways in the lungs.
source: Pubmed Health
You should always consult your healthcare provider to determine the cause of your symptoms.
Coincidentally my nephew, who was in town for the holiday, went to the same ER the very next night as was diagnosed with croup…
They sent Baby Sid’s nose mucus to the lab and it came back negative for the viruses listed above. His lungs are still clear and his breathing is just fine. Although he is still coughing and has a runny/stuffy nose. I think the nasal drip is causing him to throw up a lot more than normal causing him to lose about 3 ounces (since he is above the seventy-fifth percentile for weight I am not concerned).
Did he have croup like my nephew or did he have bronchiolitis? The only way we could have really determined it would have been a chest x-ray, but that is pointless. The treatment would have been the same, so no need to expose him to unnecessary radiation.
He did good for his first, and hopefully last, ER visit.
Late night present wrapping is a common tradition in my house hold. This night will be no exception.
It is also done at the last-minute as in a day or two before Christmas!
It is also a tradition to have the presents hidden, to which you keep adding to, and then when it comes time to wrap them you find out you purchased more than you thought.
I Tri and Craft 