Last night, Kumquat went to sleep around 8:30 and woke up at 11:00 with a weird cough, a hard time catching her breath, and wheezing.  She also coughed so hard it made her throw up.  Her breathing wasn’t normal after a while so I decided to take her to the ED at my work.  It’s weird to think that we had to drive across the bridge to get to a hospital but we are actually at the midpoint between my work and UCSF (where she was born).  When we arrived, it was eerie being there so late but there was something comforting about being about to go to a place that was so familiar.  I also also never stepped foot in our ED and was getting a first-hand experience from the other side as a parent.At check-in, we saw the triage nurse first and KK was so pissed.  She was still wheezing, coughing, and now crying because all she wanted to do was go back to bed.  Instead her parents put her in the car and took her to a place where people put stickers on her toes and squeeze your leg for a blood pressure reading.

Once we were placed in a room, she continued to cry with the first nurse.  Vitals were taken again and we were given cool mist to blow in her face.  After a few more minutes, the Resident came in to check her and she calmed down and let her examine her without any fuss.

Then for the next two hours, we sat in the room with the cool mist and an occasional video on Jes’ phone.  She perked up quite a bit and played with the tubing and gave GG a little treatment too.

Finally by the end of the visit, she was diagnosed with croup, which is a viral infection of the vocal cords.  That’s what caused the barking cough that she had.  She was also given some apple juice and a low-dose steroid.  By 3:00, we were sent home.  She’s sleeping quietly now and at 3:50 am, both Jes and I are still awake.  I guess I’m not going to work in the morning.  I’m just glad she’s ok and that she responded to the treatment so quickly.  Overall, I’d say we had a good experience and we’ll probably go there again if we ever have another emergency.