Our First Trip to the ER

Saturday was a great day! Merit and I went shopping, played outside with the dogs and went to the park. Saturday evening the three of us went to church and then met our friends Tim & Holly for dinner. Merit adores Tim & Holly. He always smiles at Tim and wants to play with him. It is so cute! We had fun at dinner and so did Merit. We put Merit in bed around 9 and he went right to sleep. Around midnight we heard Merit coughing. We both thought, how strange that he is coughing. Where did that cough come from? Unfortunately it continued and worsened so I went to get him. J.P. and I thought the cough sounded so different then his usual allergy type cough. It sounded strange; almost like a bark. J.P. went to the computer and searched for The Croup on You Tube. After we heard the recording we knew Merit must have come down with The Croup. We couldn't believe it though! So...we both through on some clothes and in the mean time Merit was getting very worked up and coughing more. I think he was scared because he was having trouble breathing. Anyway, off we went to Presbyterian Hospital of Plano. J.P. drove very fast but while we were in the car Merit calmed down and his coughing subsided a bit. We got to the ER and when we walked in the place was empty. Great news for us because that means Merit would be seen quickly! Merit started waving to the lady at the check-in counter and the policeman on duty. He didn't act very sick and really didn't look sick either. We took him back and they checked his temperature and his blood pressure. He sat perfectly still in Daddy's lap watching every move the nurse made. His temp was normal and so was his blood pressure. By this time he wasn't coughing very much at all. However, the doctor and nurse heard him when we first brought him in and they said they knew it was The Croup. The doctor and nurse told us their typical protocol and said to plan on staying for a while. I was sitting on the bed holding Merit in my lap and he was very still and quiet. I then put him down on the bed and he started laughing and sticking his tongue out. The doctor and nurse laughed and said he was the cutest thing they'd ever seen. They also wanted to know how he had so much energy at 1:30 in the morning. We wondered the same thing. The nurse gave him a steroid shot and he didn't like that very much at all. Then they started a breathing treatment but Merit did not like the mask at all. So...they just waved the mist in front of his face so he'd breathe it in. They then placed a sensor on his toe to monitor his blood pressure. It glowed red and he kept touching it and looking at me as if asking, what is this mom? Merit and I sat snuggled up on the bed and JP sat next to the bed. We watched the movie, Despicable Me, while we waited. Merit fell asleep in my arms around 3 and we were discharged at 4:30. We got home and went straight to bed. Disappointingly though, Merit did not sleep in. He woke up at 7:30. Oh my...we were pretty exhausted all day but made the most of our day together. Merit played some but was definitely not his normal happy, giggling self. What an experience! We are so thankful for doctors and medicine. Thank you Jesus for giving people the desire to become doctors. Thank you Jesus for taking care of us once again. Merit is feeling better and on the road to recovery.