911

This was a crazy night and not one that I want to repeat any time soon. After taking the older three boys skiing for the night. We had just got home and were walking in the door when I heard a noise that I had never heard before. I wasn't too sure what it was but I knew that it wasn't good. It ended up being Stefan breathing with a really bad case of croup. Jamie was just on his way to take him outside because the cold air helps to open up the airways but after being out there for 30 min. There was no change and he was having such a hard time breathing and it was so different from any other time. That we decided that we needed to call 911. He's breathing was very staggered and he was becoming more lethargic. It was so surreal listening to the sirens and knowing that it was coming to our house. Up until that point we all managed to stay pretty calm but once they arrived the boys got really upset. The EMT's came in and right away took his vitals and his blood oxygen was in the low 80's which isn't good. They put him on oxygen with a nebulizer. Thankfully he stablized really quickly. They decided to still take him to the hospital to have him checked over by a doctor.
Jamie went with Stefan in the ambulance and I followed after I had gotten the boys all settled down. It took a while because they were all very upset and in shock. It was amazing to see the different ways that they reacted to the situtation. Darien got very upset and was crying. Keagan went quiet and stone faced and Rylan got really angry and mad. But all were very worried for their brother. We had to watch as the ambulance left and were all relieved to see that the lights were not on which was a good sign.
We are very blessed to have wonderful neighbours and one of them came over to stay with the boys while I followed behind in the car.
By the time I arrived at the hospital Stefan was a totally different person. It was as if nothing had ever happened.
The doctors gave him another steroid (dexamethazone) and then he was hopping. Steroids really get him going. He was thirsty, then hungry and then he wanted gum. "Mom I have gum, I have gum mommy please". He said that over and over. It was so funny.

Here we are trying to keep him distracted. It was so amazing. It was a crazy night but from the time of the ambulance arriving to us getting home it only took 2 1/2 hours. I hope that we never have to call 911 again. It was too much stress for me but thankfully all is well and we have all recovered.