Poor Baby!

We had our first (and hopefully last) trip to Primary Children's Hospital this week. Poor Abby got a nasty case of croup and was one sick little girl. It hit fast--she was playing just fine in the afternoon and by that night she was barking (literally barking) and gasping for breath. Greg has been helping his mom remodel her kitchen, so we happened to be in Salt Lake when Abby got sick.


We took her to the hospital in the middle of the night on Thursday. She had a high fever and was quickly diagnosed with croup and given a steroid to help her breathe and some Tylenol for her fever. She barfed them right up---ARGH, so we had to try again. She was able to keep the second doses down better and then was given a breathing treatment which was absolute torture for her. The doctors monitored her breathing for the next few hours in the ER, but didn't feel comfortable sending her home, so they sent us to a room in the RTU (Rapid Treatment Unit). By late afternoon, she still hadn't improved enough to go home and the doctor told us they wanted to keep her overnight. She had a good night (as good as a child could possibly have in the hospital) and in the morning they gave us a long list of things to watch for and told us she could go home. They felt she was past the immediate danger zone and would probably heal better at home at this point. Every time a doctor or nurse walked in the room or looked at her, she would pretty much freak out, which led to more breathing trouble. Her favorite things to yell were, "Go Away!" "No want it!" and "Go home Abby!" Getting so worked up wasn't doing her any good, so they said we would be better off at home where she could heal in a comfortable environment.

She is still sick and has had us worried a few times today, but is doing much better overall. Her little voice is so raspy and weak and she is still coughing, but it is much better than it was. She is still very susceptible to sickness and our hope is to keep her from contracting a secondary illness (like bronchitis or an ear infection), so we will pretty much just be camping out at home for the next week. We want a healthy Abby for Christmas!


She wasn't very excited about getting her picture taken and pulled her blankie over her face.
Poor Abby!It had been a rough day all around--no sleep at all the previous night and we were all so tired. Of course, Miss Abby just wanted her daddy to snuggle with her. We had fun ordering from Room Service. Abby perked up a bit when she saw her noodles and cupcake.And then it was back to bed...We were watching a cartoon with a shark on it and we mentioned that Abby loves sharks (our little tomboy). One of the nurses heard and brought Abby this cute little stuffed hammerhead. She fell in love with it and it hasn't left her side since she got it.She had to stay in her room and couldn't go out to play with the toys in the play area, but they let us bring whatever we wanted into her room for her to play with. We brought her in this little car and she was thrilled! Garrett was very worried about his sister and was excited to come to the hospital and pick her up. He especially loved the Snoopy tree! What's not to love? I have to admit I was also pretty impressed.
Garrett was so sweet with Abby when she came out. As we were loading them in the car, I heard him ask her, "Are you okay, Abby? Did it hurt really bad when you were sick?" What a sweet little boy! (Most of the time...)

Mucho, mucho thanks to Brian/Cathy and Willy/Jan for taking such great care of Garrett and to everybody else for your love and concern. It only takes about 5 minutes at Primary Children's to realize how much worse it could be and how blessed we really are!