Dear JSL,

Wednesday was a great day. After your graduation from nursery school, you had a special request for a lunch out. We went there, played outside, played at home. Then, you helped me to finish writing your birthday thank you notes. When we were done, I asked you to head with me to the mail box. It was at this point that I realized that we never did buy the gift for one of NHL’s teachers. NHL also mentioned that the following day he was supposed to bring in a snack to celebrate his summer birthday.

So you and I went to Price Chopper because I knew we could get some cookies without nuts and gift cards. When we got home, we talked with our neighbor while you ran and ran and ran around the house. Then, we took things inside and went to the mailbox. At bedtime, you started coughing. No matter what we did, you were not able to stop coughing. It was time to try something to help. I assumed it was asthma kicking in.

Once the nebulizer was over, it was already pretty late. We put you back into bed and sat in the room to make sure you would settle. Suddenly, I heard Daddy try to get you out of bed fast. You were throwing up and gasping for air. You were whisked away to the bathroom, where you were shaking horribly and could not stop this from happening over and over. We eventually got you into our bed and comfortable.

I dozed off briefly until you started to toss and turn. You started to cough again. We pulled out the nebulizer for another treatment since it had been five hours. Nothing got better. Your color was getting worse and your breathing getting more labored. Your little body was clearly in distress. We called Nana and Papa to see if they could take us to the ER. I was afraid to drive you alone with your breathing the way it was.

The ER brings back some bad memories for me. Thank goodness you do not recall a lot of the times you have been there for your fevers. The nurses were really great and had a doctor come to you in triage. They immediately noted that you had croup – that barking cough echoed down the halls. I’m not sure why I thought you were too old for that. The nurse and I tackled you to start some steroids to help the cough that was still horrible. Since your lungs were clear, we were told we just had to keep the meds in you and then could head home. We were moved to an area in the hall to sit in a chair. You immediately curled up in my arms to try to sleep.

I sat there thanking my lucky stars that it was nothing more serious. Your lungs were healthy, your ears fine, and you were getting enough oxygen. A few hours after we arrived in the ER, we were sent home. You crawled into bed and managed to sleep for a few hours

I was not able to sleep. I watched you breathing and holding onto Perry who had also comforted you at the hospital. My mind was racing and I just wanted to see you rest in our home. Thank goodness you are feeling better now and soon you will be up to speed to really begin our summer vacation.

Love,

Mommy