Croup

The horror. The horror. That's the only way I can describe the harrowing scenario that is having a kid wake up sick at night.

For Eli, the other night was such a night. And he didn't awake with any old sickness, but that ambushing old devil: croup. Croup is when you have trouble breathing and the area around the vocal chords gets swollen. This wonderful windpipe constriction is accompanied by a cough that sounds like an angry seal cursing at a driver who cut him off. For real.

I had no idea this was such a common thing among children until last year, but even if it's common, when your child's breathing is compromised it's always a concern. On this particular night Eli woke up after 4 a.m. coughing like a seal but also wheezing (I won't even try to do justice to the unsettling nature of the wheezing) when he would breathe in.

After a couple of homeopathic remedy fails (honey for the cough and breathing in steam for the wheezing) I opted for pharmaceutical intervention. However the prescription medicine we had from a prior bout of croup was so kid proof it initially proved to be adult proof as well.

I'm not sure if it was due to my state of mind or because the pharmacist had super glued the cap on, but I felt like I had a better chance removing the lug nuts from a wheel by hand than opening this bottle.

Eventually I prevailed (stupid squeeze and turn caps...) and Eli's breathing normalized quickly after a dose. We spent the rest of the night on the couch watching episodes of Thomas the train. I can name all the trains now.

Eli announced the morning's arrival with shouts of, "it's day, it's day!" I was so thankful for the night to be over the shouting was almost appreciated. Almost.

My wife made an appointment at the doctor and due to John deciding to take an unprecedentedly long nap, I took Eli to the doctor alone. I feared this would be an eventful visit, as Eli has historically reacted less than happy when he goes to the doctor. Something about going into a small room and getting stuck by needles bothers him. Weird.

However, Eli didn't shed a tear and we went home with a diagnosis of croup but without any incidents.

As a dad I’ve found the nighttime sick kid scenario to be the worst. You're helpless to make things any better and it can just take you to the floor. One, because in such circumstances I've found myself literally on the floor in Eli's room before and two, because being up all night worrying about your child's health drains you.

No father likes to feel helpless. But sometimes that’s just the way it is with parenting. And with child proof medicine caps.