Our ER Scare!!

I've never had to rush someone to the ER, until last week. It all started last Mon. night when we kept our neighbors kids for the evening. When our friends came to pick up their kids, we heard a strange noise coming fromo what I thought to be the room where Nathan was sleeping(see above photo of Oak and Nathan). However, upon some further investigation, I realized it was coming from Oak's room. When we went to check on him, we found him up on all fours and barking like a dog . . . . . . Seriously! I went over and picked him up and he immediately started gasping for breath. My first thought was that he had something in his throat . . . maybe his pacifier had fallen apart. After realizing it wasn't his pacifier and that nothing seemed to be stuck, I started to panic! A minute later we were in the car, rushing him to the ER. We arrived at the ER and fortunately he was breathing again, however, he still had a terrible bark-like cough that caused him to choke frequently. They took one look at him in the ER and said, "Yeah, he's got the Croup". OK - on a side note, I have grown up in the south and have heard many a red-neck say that they've "Come down with the 'Croup' or the 'Crud'". I have always thought it was a made-up term - apparently not!! Anyway, they gave him steriod treatments, observed him for a while and sent us home. We finally got to bed around 3am and Oak was up and ready to go by 8 the next morning! Thankfully he's rid of "the Croup" however, I think I'm still recovering!! (P.S. If your kid ever gets "The Croup" be aware that it's HIGHLY contagious! Sorry Stacey!!)