Hello.
Christian and the girls all got a cold yesterday and after the storm we had it added more congestion. I laid Christian down to sleep and a few hours later he took a turn for the worse. He woke me up around 12:30a.m with a barking cough and unable to catch his breath. I woke up Don who also became alarmed. I had first tried to prop him up in bed with me thinking elevation would help his congestion well it didn’t help. I called my mom who said to get him the ER quick. I threw some clothes on Christian and I and left. We went to the closest ER, which we never use, and when I got there despite the lady hearing him breath and cough was told it would be 2 1/2 hours until he was triaged! 
I turned around and walked out. Went home and had Don call the other hospital ER and was told there was no wait 
we got triaged almost as soon as we got there and back to a room immediately after that. We don’t use this ER either. We try to stay away from the hospitals in our area. He had started to sound a little better, apparently because of having him out in the cool night air, but the NP could tell it was a bad case of croup so she ordered a steroid shot for him. He did surprisingly well and was able to get a short nap in since he could breath easier 
They also did a chest xray which came back fine and we were allowed to go home. I got home around 4:30a.m The dr who saw Christian right before we left made it clear he thought I shouldn’t have brought him in, of course he saw him almost 2 hours after the shot so of course he sounded great when the dr listened to him 
I was thinking, if you had heard when I did you would be doing the same thing. I was so scared, when I arrived at the E.R’s I was out of breath. So he seems to be doing okay now, a little cranky. I have to keep an eye on his breathing, temp, cough and hydration and if it gets worse he has to be seen immediately. He also has to have a lot of rest and try to keep his crying to a minimum-crying can inflame his airway resulting in more trouble. Please pray for his continued healing and that of his sisters who also have a cold but have not gotten the croup at this time He goes Friday morning for a re-check.
God bless.
GrowingForChrist 
You did the right thing! Don't you just hate it when they say things like that? My son had that happen to him once when he was probably 1 – 2 yrs. We were out of town staying with family, and the funeral arrangements brought to the home that evening had that goldenrod in them which I think may have triggered it. We had to drive 45 min to a hospital. It was kinda scary to listen to. The cold air helped him, too. I forget what they did for him. He never had it again, though, if that encourages you.
bethanyrae