Moisture for the croup....boil water in everything you have to boil it in and get a cool mist humidifier and put it next to where he is....and when he is having a coughing spell, take him into the bathroom and turn on the shower full blast to hot until the room is full of steam.
I second the desision to put off the gall bladded surgery....frankly, after you are through witht he PG thing it very may not bother you ever again....or at least not for years.
You have 4 little bitty kids, your gall bladded is not infected nor currently inflamed, I would put surgery on hold until you are better able to handle it.....or until it becomes an immediate necessity.
Linda C

Wow. Little ones seem to need a lot of medical care. I have no experience with croup or the cyst or nodules. Hydrocele, yes. My son had one. We watched it and eventually it did require surgery, though I understand that isn't always the case. He also had surgery prior to that for testicular torsion. Poor little monkey!

Once they get older things will change! They will get a lot sturdier! Sorry all of this is happening at once and right before Christmas. Just what you need, more to do.

What Linda said. Humidify, humidify, humidify. Try not to lay him flat, either. Keep his upper half slightly elevated.

As for your gall bladder, I also agree about waiting if at all possible, as long as it doesn't endanger your life. After all, there's deductable to meet every year. I would definitely not worry about Christmas this year. I think everyone would understand. Do the Santa thing, if that's what y'all do, and put everyone else off.

My heart goes out to you and your sister!

Sally

I agree with all the above. Make absolutely 100% sure your humidifier is sparkling clean! If it has a filter, use a new one. You want to avoid any hidden or otherwise mold spores from spewing into the room. This is very important!
Your Christmas season will be enjoyed when your babies are healthy.
Warm wishes to you!

No pediatric advice, but YES put off the gallbladder surgery...... you're young and may never have another flare up, but at least put it off til the kids are healthy and so are you!!

Grace

take him in the shower with you!!!!!! When he's having an attack..strip and jump in...
My middle one always gets his "cold" in the bronc tubes...and gets croupy like..First thing we do is turn on the shower and toss him in!!!! as he's gotten older a quick remedey is to get a wash cloth wet with hot as you can stand water, ring it out well but not dry and breathe through it, open mouthed...(doesn't help for your little one now..but keep it in mind for when he's older)

Sorry you have to deal with this Stacie. One sick kid is enough!

For croup, I've done the steam from the shower then into some cold air. I'm not sure you want to do that with a baby. My son was really sick at that age. I put him in his car seat and made a tent with a sheet over chairs with the humidifier underneath(definitely make sure the humidifier is cleaned frequently). I remember sleeping on the floor. It was awful.

How old is Peyton? My daughter had a branchial cleft cyst. The pediatrician noticed it at about 1 month. Initally it was an indentation that then became a nodule as she got older. It was just above her clavicle. It became infected when she was about 15 months old and we had it removed. The didn't want to do anything with it unless it became infected.

I hope everyone feels better soon.

I just read your post again if it's -30 don't take him out!

Tracey

When my son had the croup our pediatrician said to turn the shower up as hot as it would go and sit in the steaming bathroom with him for ten minutes. Then wrap him up really good and run him outside (it was January in IL) for a minute or two. The hot humid air alternated with the cold dry air was good for about an hour before the cough started again. He was 2 at the time though, not as little as your son. It only lasted about 48 hours. Hope you all are feeling better soon.

Barnmom,

Funny you should mention a hydrocele..... Hudson has one it is almost gone now at 7 weeks old, but I know could show back up.

Tracey,
Peyton is 3 it turns out that it is a thyroglossal duct cyst ( my spelling may be a little off) They are going to wait and check it again next week to see if it goes down.

Will update everyone in a new post..... Just trying to keep my head above water right now.

Stacie
who is sick and tired of being sick and tired:)

Stacie,
I have no experience with vocal chord nodules other than that they can often be caused by voice strain. Does your daughter run around screaming or talking loudly or high-pitched? (LOL What kid doesn't?!) What kind of treatment are they recommending?

I found this article, which was kind of interesting. Other than that, ironically I was just reading the other day about famous musicians with vocal chord nodules from singing, including Julie Andrews and Mariah Carey, who often sings in the 'whistle register,' which is the highest pitch audible to human ears. Ouch. But ironically they say children are often able to vocalize in this pitch as well, especially when screaming or crying. Hope they all get better soon!

Hugs to you all!

Here is a link that might be useful: therapy for vocal chord nodules?

Well, sometimes you just do what you gotta do for the holidays and when you look back on it years later, you'll just laugh and have good memories anyway. But first, you have to get everyone healthy and feeling better.

A few Christmases ago my mother was sleeping with my DS on Christmas Eve and came to get me about 2am because DS was crying with abdonimal pain and had a high fever. His temp was 104. We ended up in the ER most of the night (turned out it was just a viral something) and the next morning he was too tired and felt too bad to even see what Santa had brought.

Two years ago, DS had stomach virus around Dec. 22 and threw up all over the house in the middle of the night while sleep walking without waking me up. That was a real treat when I finally heard him. I had to find a carpet cleaning company on Dec. 23 to clean my whole house.

We had great plans for Christmas this year, but they all fell apart this past week. DH was just assigned to work on Christmas Eve and has to go to work on Christmas Day at 7am for 24 straight hours. My MIL is spending Christmas with my SIL, and my mom called yesterday to tell me that she has pneumonia and her doctor wants to put her in the hospital, so I cancelled her flight out here. So, I guess Christmas this year will just be me and my two children quietly at home. We don't plan to even get dressed that day.

Stacie, I am so sorry for all you and your family is going through! I wish we lived closer and I could help you!
I have experience with croup. My son James, 26 had croup growing up! I would turn on the shower and have him sit in the warm, steamy bathroom, sometimes it worked, often times not! So I'd bundle him up and head to the ER or Drs. office, yes it was that bad! It never failed as soon as we got to the ER or Drs. he'd stop that horrific cough! The cold, damp outside air worked much better on him! It's a scary thing to have to listen to your baby sound so sick!
Hang in there, this too shall pass! And you know it always seemed to happen around the Christmas holidays! The same son also had a testicle torsion that required surgery when he was about 13 or 14!
Gina

I'm so sorry you are going through this. Perhaps the folks on the Infant and Toddler forums may have more up to date info on how to deal with the symptoms. Hope this runs its course fast!