Croup
Signs and Symptoms of Croup
Croup is characterized by a loud cough that may sound to you like the barking of a seal and may be accompanied by fast or difficult breathing and sometimes a grunting noise or wheezing while breathing. At first, a child may have cold symptoms like a stuffy or runny nose for a few days and may also have fever. As the upper airway (the lining of the windpipe and the voice box) becomes progressively inflamed and swollen, the child may become hoarse, with a harsh, barking cough. If the upper airway becomes swollen to the point where it is partially blocked off, it becomes even more difficult for a child to breathe. This happens with severe croup. With severe croup, there may be a high-pitched or squeaking noise when breathing in (this is called stridor). A child will tend to breathe very fast, and the stomach or the skin between the child's ribs may seem to pull in during breathing. The child may also appear pale or bluish around the mouth because he is not getting enough oxygen.Symptoms of croup often worsen at night and when the child is upset or crying. In addition to the effects on the upper airway, the infections that cause croup can result in inflammation further down the airway, including the bronchi (breathing tubes) and the lungs.
This is what Sophie and Juliette both had, and it really does sound like a seal barking when they cough! Juliette got it first - a nasty cough, runny nose and fever, but I just put it down to teething. Then Sophie (who'd had a bit of a cold too) started doing the seal cough on Friday night, which was very impressive - the more she coughed the more she cried, the more she cried the worse it got and she couldn't breathe properly, then she'd be sick ... needless to say, I got no sleep at all! The next day Mike was off helping some friends move all day and I couldn't get hold of my doctor or the girls' doctor, so I ended up phoning up "SOS-médecins" for the emergency call-out doctor.
He prescribed everything the chemist stocks (4 different potions for both of them 3 times a day - I came out with two big bagfuls!) and I managed to get the neighbour to sit in with the girls while I ran off to the chemist's (literally, because it was about to close)! Sophie spent all day long on the settee, totally crashed out, running a high temperature and coughing as soon as she moved, didn't want anything to eat (even refused McDonalds or sweets!!!) ... and suddenly, at 5pm, started singing, hid under the blanket on the settee and started giggling !!! (I think the ibuprofen kicked in!) Mike arrived home at 5.30pm so I don't think he believed a word when I said how sick they had been all day long (well, Juliette slept all day and was actually full of beans when she was awake, but she was off her food too.)
Anyway, panic over, Sophie's back to doing naughty things today so she's definitely feeling better (to the point of getting me out of bed at 5am because she was hungry !!! And I didn't even mind !!!) It's 10.45am now and Juliette hasn't woken up yet (she is still breathing, I did check !!!) so looks like life is back to normal! *Huge sigh of relief* !