Our first ambulance ride

The last few days D. seemed to have caught the cough that's been going around, but it picked up yesterday and got worse through the evening. We put him down around 6:30/7pm and a little bit after 8pm he started coughing and then screaming. I went to get him and he would scream, then inhale a wheeze/squeak, scream, wheeze/squeak, etc. He wouldn't calm down and it seemed he wasn't getting enough air. This continued for about 10 minutes and then it seemed like he might stop breathing any second. So L. called 911 and described the situation to the operator and asked if it was an emergency, to which she replied that the paramedics were on their way.

Right around the end of the phone call, I managed to calm D. down, so although he was no longer screaming, he was still wheezing. A couple of minutes later 6 very, very kind paramedics crowded into our little guest house home. The tested his oxygen levels (he was getting enough) and I felt bad because since he had calmed down, I thought we would just drive him to the ER ourselves. However, just at that time, he began to wheeze so deeply and slowly and then stopped breathing for about 1-2 seconds (which felt a lot longer) and then struggled to inhale. The paramedics let us know that if something were to happen on the way, they could help. If we drove ourselves, they couldn't. So D. (very scared at all the strangers and being awake) and I climbed into the back of the ambulance while L. followed in the car. He hugged me as tight as he could the whole time.

In the ambulance on our way to the ER

Once at the ER, there was a surprisingly low line and we were seen quickly (for the ER). They watched his breathing, listened to his cough, and x-rayed his chest. Everything was clear, but he just has a mild case of croup. MILD?! I do NOT want to see severe! A small dose of steroids (to keep his airway from inflaming to the point of not breathing) and we were discharged around midnight. D. has been doing much better today (I think the medicine helps a lot) and beyond waking up from coughing and being understandably grumpy, he's been a good boy.

I am grateful for modern medicine and emergency personnel, although I'm hoping this will be our last ambulance ride! I'm also planning on bringing D. to the fire station once he's better so he can see an ambulance and fire truck without being so scared. :-)