Pobrecita!

Poor little thing! Jillian (and Mommy and Daddy) spent several hours in the ER last night after a sudden onset of illness. Jillian was at daycare yesterday (I selfishly kept her in one more week so I could work on purging and organizing this house) and when I went to pick her up, she wasn't acting like herself. She didn't respond to my arrival as usual ("Mama, mama!" while running to me is typical), and was clutching her cup of water and a cracker as one of her daycare providers held her. They said she was fine all day, but had gotten crabby and clingy over the last hour. I put her in her car seat and thought that her breathing was a little odd. Somewhat effortful and raspy. She was silent on the ride home (Also unusual. She typically cries or "talks" or moves around all the way home). When we arrived home, she started coughing more (she's had a cold and a cough recently, but nothing bad) and began to sob uncontrollably. If she wasn't crying, she was listless and exerting a lot of effort to breathe. She also spiked a 102 fever. I called Matt (who was on his way home) and told him I thought we needed to go to the ER. He pulled in a few minutes later and after seeing her, agreed that we needed to go. Jillian got a couple different types of breathing treatments and a chest x-ray while we were there, and perked up dramatically after the second treatment. Of course this also coincided with the Child Life Specialist bringing in a Elmo DVD for her to watch while we tried to get her settled down. Jillian is Elmo's greatest fan and suddenly all seemed right with the world in her eyes. She ended up being treated for croup with a dose of steroids, although she did not present typically for that diagnosis (her cough wasn't barky and Matt read her chest x-ray and said it didn't look like croup) but she probably has bronchiolitis (chest x-ray was much more indicative of this). Luckily, we already have all the stuff for breathing treatments at home from this same illness last year. I can't help but wonder, given her propensity for these type of illnesses (and the fact that she is biologically linked to me), if we are on our way to an asthma diagnosis someday. Jillian also has her first official ear infection, in her left ear. It wasn't a raging infection, but the pediatrician felt that given the complete picture of her illness, it was certainly worth treating. I am here to report that she is not a fan of the bubble gum-flavored amoxicillin (I never was either), so hopefully we can get 19 more doses in her! After a late dinner, bath, and another breathing treatment she finally settled in for some restful sleep around midnight (5 hours past her bedtime!) in the pack n' play in our room. As I type this it is 9:30 and she is still asleep. I hear very little coughing, so I am taking this as a sign that she is well on her way to a speedy recovery!
Here is a picture I took with my phone while she was snuggled up to her daddy in the exam room watching a little bit of Elmo last night. As you can see, she was a sick little thing. Poor, sweet baby.