Cough

Isaac has croup! I shouldn't be surprised -- two kids he knows have recently had croup, and another kid had a bronchial infection. I guess viruses can land in different areas and cause slightly different infections. Croup involves inflammation of the voice box and windpipe, and results in a cough and difficulty breathing.

He has had a slight cough for a few days now. On Friday night he woke up coughing, and he was so upset that he had a hard time calming down -- and of course the more he cried, the more he coughed. He coughed during the day yesterday, but it didn't seem to bother him. (The upside is that Craig got the chance to teach Isaac to cover his mouth when he coughs.)

But he woke up last night coughing harder and calling for mama, and when we brought him into our bed, we finally heard the distinctive croup cough.

We listened with great interest. "He sounds like a dog," I said. Craig said it sounded more like a seal.

"Or like a barking owl!" Isaac said, equally interested in this strange noise he had just made.

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At Thanksgiving we stayed with my parents, who live about 100 miles south of here, and one night when Craig was out walking the dog he heard an owl barking. We listened to sound files online until he determined he had heard the territorial call of a female spotted owl. I guess Isaac remembers what it sounded like.

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And how sick is Isaac? He doesn't seem too bad, so far. He has a low fever and is still coughing, but now it sounds wet and phlegmy rather than constricted. His voice sounds reedy, probably because of the narrower voicebox. Luckily he's not struggling to breathe, although when a coughing fit lasts for a while he definitely wheezes and gasps. He's not worried about it, though (as you might guess from his owl remark), and I guess kids with serious croup tend to panic because they aren't getting enough air.

This afternoon we let him nap a long time, twice as long as usual -- we finally woke him up at 5:00 p.m. after he had slept for two hours and 50 minutes, so he probably won't go to sleep tonight until 11:00 p.m. -- in the hope that it helps him heal.

But croup is supposed to get worse the second or third night, so it's really too soon to tell. I (naturally) expect the worst.