Bark Like a Dog- Katy has the Croup :-(

Katy woke up Christmas day with a common cold- runny nose, stuffy head, watery eyes- nothing too major. She seemed to be getting better as the week went on so we thought things were on the mend. That was until last night. Katy went to bed without any incident. However, she woke up at a little before midnight coughing and crying. This coughing, though, sounded more like a dog barking than a normal cough. We were already using a humidifier and Vicks vapor rub, so we added a teaspoon of honey to our treatment at midnight (Katy was able to cry and breathe so we weren't concerned enough about the cough to take her to Urgent Care/ER). 

Then, first thing this morning, we made an appointment to see the doctor. As soon as the doctor listened to Katy's chest, he diagnosed her with croup. Apparently, croup is caused by a virus and is spread just like the common cold. Also, croup can result from a cold. Croup is the swelling of the voice box and windpipe. So, while the coughing sounds alarming (especially in the middle of the night!), croup is pretty common and can be treated with relative ease. The doctor called in a prescription and we were out the door less than thirty minutes after we had walked in. Temperament wise, Katy seemed fine. She was laughing, playing, talking and eating (boy, is she eating!!) like normal. If she didn't have the cough and runny nose, you wouldn't think anything was wrong.

Here is a link from Baby Center about croup and what it sounds like: http://www.babycenter.com/0_croup_1615.bc.