New first for Jake and hopefully the last

Don't want to relive last night again. I had quite the scare with Jake. At around 11:30 p.m. he started coughing pretty badly. Kevin wasn't home, he had gone to play some poker downtown so I was alone. I listened to Jake cough for a few minutes and when he didn't stop I got out of bed to get him some water. He sounded pretty hoarse and I thought some water would help him if his throat was dry.

When I went into his room he was lying there, eyes closed, wheezing like he couldn't breathe. My heart stopped. I picked him up and he was pretty much a rag doll. His breathing was very shallow and he was unable to take any full breaths. I immediately called 911 and he began to wake up a little. Turns out he was just sleepy, not unconscious or anything. I wrapped him in a heavy blanket and took him out onto the porch for some cool air. I had remembered our dr. saying the last time he had croup that if his breathing was labored to do cool outdoor air or hot steam from the shower.

I called Kevin and my mom while I was on the porch and both of them immediately headed over. Now I know when you are in panic mode minutes seem like hours but I was shocked how long it took the ambulance to get there. It was at least 10-12 minutes and if Jake had not been breathing or something seriously was wrong....I don't even want to think about it.

The ambulance showed and the paramedic was pretty certain he was having trouble breathing from croup. When my mom arrived to watch over Anderson we loaded Jake into his carseat and into the ambulance and headed for the hospital. Kevin arrived there a few minutes before we did and was waiting for us.

The dr. evaluated Jake and confirmed the croup. They gave him a breathing treatment and then that was the end of that for the next hour. No one came in or told us what was going on, I was getting pretty pissed. Finally we requested that the dr. return and fill us in. It is now 2:30 a.m and little Jakey has had enough. You can only keep a 16 month old entertained and contained to a hospital bed for so long. The dr. finally came around and discharged us.

Jake was such a good boy through all of it. He seemed to really enjoy his ambulance ride, he kept looking at me and smiling. The only time he was nervous was when the ambulance pulled up to the house with the flashing lights in the dark. Even then he didn't cry. What a sweetie! His brother is completely unaware of the chaos that ensued last night. He never woke up once the entire time. Thank goodness for that!

Kevin took Jake this morning to follow up with our pediatrician. Everything looked good and he said we have probably seen the worst of it. Right now my three favorite guys are napping after a long night and I'm thanking my lucky stars.