Croup, aka there's a large, alpha male sea lion living in my child's chest.

First of all, I have a question.  Is it croup or the croup, kinda like the flu?  Anyone know?  I've heard it referred to as both and I need to get it straight.   Since I'm new to childhood diseases, I've never had to deal with this lovely ailment and not knowing the correct terminology is driving me nuts.  I stumble over my words every time I talk about it b/c I don't know if I'm saying it correctly.  So far I've gone with both, but I must get to the bottom of this.  So, if anyone has any knowledge on the matter, please do share.

Gross - I know...

So, on to the story.  V has (the)croup.  Well, had it.  She seems to have kicked out the sea lion and now just the excessive, lovely mucus is left.  The mucus has taken over, sort of like the Mucinex commercials, which really gross me out, but apparently, the master mind behind them had at one point had (the)croup.  Being upright for a matter of minutes produces a river of snot that permeates from her little nose like a tiny little waterfall.  It's not a pretty sight. 

This all started Friday night.  By Saturday night, when the sea lion moved in circa 9:00 pm, we were calling the after hours line at the dr's office and I was ready to pack up and go to the emergency room due to the sounds coming out of my sweet little girl.  The night nurse assured me it was not life threatening and to give her continual HOT steam baths for 15-20 minutes at a time.  She said to do this as much as needed and so for the past 3 days, V has received three of these a day.  This is not pretty on Mommy's back, but I'm taking one for Team V's lungs.  I'm putting this on her list...

In addition to the excessive snot, the girl has been extremely clingy.  For the past FOUR nights now she has slept in bed with me and last night, we even kicked Daddy out b/c, well.. he snores.  I can typically handle this, but my nerves were on edge with having a 15 pound child asleep on top of me for four nights and any sleep I was able to catch was being interrupted by rattling sounds.  So he got the boot.  V was also so restless and so she too got the boot last night at 5 am.  Daddy got the green light to return and V slept in her bed from 5 to 8 am.  Hallelujah!!!!  So, tonight is a new night, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she stays put in her own bed. 

In conclusion, I would like to say something to (the)croup.  (The)croup, thank you for visiting.  I hope you enjoyed your stay.  Sadly, I don't think it's going to work out between us. It's not you - it's me.  Take care of yourself.  J-Mom.