The deadly C

Man, the fun never stops around here , folks.

It's almost 3 pm. Wayne and I are waking up from a nap since I didn't sleep last night-- at all. I went to bed at 11 (which is already super late for me) and Annika awoke at 12 and didn't go back down. Turns out she has a really bad strain of croup. We had to take her to the ER this morning because she wasn't breathing, was wheezing and the steam and cold air were doing nothing for her.

At the ER, it was pretty traumatic for her. They had to give her an oral dose of steroids, which she promptly threw up when she stressed out from the respirator device they had to put her on. It was TERRIBLE having to wrestle her into submission (my daughter is freakishly strong-- it's a family thing :)) so we could mist her with this oxygen mask filled with epinephrine to allow her to breathe. Then they gave her another big dose of steroids to open her throat by shot in the butt.

The whole night was really stressful and scary for me. There is nothing worse than knowing your baby is hurting and scared and that you can do nothing. To make it worse, a few times during the night she literally could not catch her breath at all. Her breathing was so labored I was certain it was just going to stop... but it always started up again. Usually, by about 6 pm I'm completely exhausted and unable to move, which is why I relish sleep so much lately-- it's like in the morning I feel like a new person again and I'm ready to face the day.
Not last night~ and I had to spend the whole night carrying her around, soothing her, and helping her every way I could, which usually meant sitting in a super uncomfortable position. I even peed on myself at one point because I couldn't put her down since she wasn't breathing, but I was unable to control the pressure from both babies on my bladder and stomach. Yay!

Anyways, here's the interesting part. I've been following the vax vs. don't vax debate very closely since having her. I didn't end up vaxing her because I listened to people who said it was unnecessary and what not. I thought, since I stay at home and we're homeschooling, vaxing isn't important. Turns out that could have killed her last night! The vaccines for measles, Haemophilus influenzae (Hib), and diphtheria protect children against some of the more dangerous forms of croup... including the kind Annika has right now. If she had been vaxed, this cold probably never would have turned into a croup, and if it did, it would have been mildly uncomfortable at worst. The viral strain she caught is this bad because I decided not to vax her. That makes me feel like the worst mother on the planet, for one thing, and for another.... is so mind numbingly stupid only I could have done it.

Anyways, I really wanted to share that because it could happen to any baby who isn't vaxed but goes outside and catches something as simple as parainfluenza, just the flu.

When we got home~ ta da! We had a flat tire AGAIN! What a week this is turning out to be.

Please continue to pray for us.