Rice Cereal Sucks

So, we found out what croup was, at 3am this morning…

The Pickle woke us up at about that hour, making a horrible wheezing noise, followed by a barking cough. I’ve had cars that made that noise, but never heard it from a child before.

Needless to say that both mom and I launched into a full-bore parental panic.

We called the advice nurse and then bundled her up and sat outside for about 15 minutes. That helped a lot. From what I’ve read, some cool air and getting the kid calm are the best treatments for mild to moderate symptoms.

Still, we were ready to jump in the car at any minute. Neither of us were in any condition to drive, but when the paramedics unwrapped our mini-van from the tree across the street, they probably would have taken Gracie in to be checked out too.

After sitting in our bathroom cum sauna for awhile, then sitting in the pre-dawn cold on our front porch, the kiddo finally started making human-like breathing noises again, and fell back asleep around 5am.

The nurse consoled us by saying “I think her symptoms are fairly mild.” Our symptoms, however, were severe…judging by the massive number of new grey hairs I seem to have this morning.

Someone should have to tell you, at one one those 400 vaccine appointments, you know, the ones where they make YOU hold your baby while they stick them with needles…”Oh, by the way your baby will probably wake up at 3am at some point, barking like a seal and sounding like she’s drowning on the fluid in her lungs…so don’t freak out, they’re just “mild symptoms.”

So, after spending most of the night in sheer panic, then the rest wide awake and reading every page that The Google has to offer on croup…I jotted down some notes on my examiner page regarding how to recognize it, “Tips for dealing with croup” and some things you can do about it to help your suffering kiddos.

Now, if they could just post something useful about how parent’s can recover…

-Gracie’s Daddy

Hey all,

I have a favor to ask…

Part of my ranking (read compensation, lol) as a writer for Examiner.com is based on the number of subscribers I have.

I currently have a handful of subscribers, but I’m getting a lot of reader hits with each post, so I know that there are a bunch of folks out there who are reading my articles regularly, but haven’t subscribed via the site.

If you don’t mind subscribing, here are the steps involved:

1. Go to www.pdxdads.com
2. Click on the “Subscribe to Email” (Next to my picture, near the top)
3. Enter your Email Address in the box
4. Click the orange “Subscribe” button

You’ll get a message that says, “Thank you. Your email address has been added to the Portland Fatherhood Examiner subscription list.”

That’s it!

If you’d rather not subscribe, I totally understand. I get a lot of emails as well!

I’ll be sending this info to some of you via email as well, with the subject line: “Examiner Subscription.” If you’ve read this here, go ahead and delete the email and accept my apologies for the repeat.

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my articles, and thank you all for considering this.

Blessings,

-Perry

PS – Couple more things:

If you’re on the short list of folks that I send a “new post” announcement email to, and you subscribe, please let me know at: perry@perryperkinsbooks.com, and I’ll remove you from my “auto update” list so you don’t get two messages. (Examiner doesn’t tell me who has subscribed, so that’s the only way I’ll know.)

If you’re not on my short list, and would rather be notified directly by me, than subscribing, email me at the same address, and I’ll add you to the list.

Thanks again! – P