Bye, Bye February.

Our little Schatz clan is very happy to say goodbye to February.  The month of love was anything but loving to us this year.  We spent the last day of the month with our little one on the way to the hospital in an ambulance.  Stephen went very happily down to his nap on Monday with only a slight cough.  About an hour later I heard a terrible noise that I actually thought was a dog outside.  A few minutes later I realized that it was Stephen, who was having a seriously difficult time breathing.  I pretty immediately knew he had croup, called 911, and put him in the bathroom with the shower going full steam. 

The ambulance arrived very quickly and the EMT had to take Stephen out to give him oxygen and later a nebulizer on the way to the hospital.  Poor little Stephen was very subdued and was in clear distress but got huge eyes when the sirens started because he always imitates them.  Georgie was all strapped in as well and kept lifting up his head with big eyes.  Our little guy had to have another breathing treatment at the hospital and was almost admitted!  Luckily, we got sent home after three hours and Stephen was able to sleep through the night with no recurrences.  Yesterday, we made a trip to the doctor for a follow up and it seems that he's on the mend.  Croup is so strange though because even though he can breath much better now he has more cold like symptoms and has become more stuffed up, although that means he's actually getting better.

Despite the whole ordeal, I can again be reminded of how many kind people there are in our lives.  The EMTs arrived at our house within minutes and the two men were wonderful.  One in particular was very sweet with Stephen and stroked his head in the ambulance on the way to the hospital while Georgie and I had to be strapped in.  The nurses and doctors were wonderful and fawned over Stephen who became much more animated and said goodbye to everyone as they left.  And finally all of our wonderful family and friends who have been emailing, calling, and even bringing us meals!  We are very lucky to have so many wonderful people in our lives!

So goodbye to February, a month of cold weather, skin cancer, lost wallets, running out of gas, the ho-hums, and finally hospital trips.  We are happy to see you go and are sure that  better things are to come as Spring heads our way!