I cannot believe we made it! Our girly has officially lived for 18 months sickness free! Not a sniffle, rash, cough in sight! After hearing from the respirologist the scary statistic that about 50% of preemies with bronchopulmonary dysplasia end up rehospitalized in the first 12 months, I never would have believed that we were going to make it all the way to 18!
How did we do it? Many many gallons of
Purell later (they really should be a post sponsor.. pretty please?), months and months of super strict isolation tactics, having the freedom for one of us to stay home with V and a solid dose of luck!
Here is a peek into the cold busting tricks we used (the things that OCD dreams are made of...):
- While in the NICU, we would watch staff like hawks, making sure they always disinfect their hands before touching the isolette or V. We also made sure that those who seemed sick wore masks. (Yes, unfortunately some of these practices did not seem to be obvious to certain staff...)
- Every time anyone entered our house, including ourselves, the very first stop was the sink for a thorough washing of the hands.
- Each bag and purse has multiple containers of Purell.
- No jewelry or watch wearing outside of the house (those things pick up lots of gross stuff!)
- No one was allowed in contact with V after they had been sick until 2 weeks of being symptom-free
- All groceries had their own shelf in the fridge or a place in the pantry that they hung out for 48 hours after having been bought (have you SEEN how people open mouth cough on everything at the grocery store?! Ugggghhhh)
- We visit public places first thing in the morning, including the Biodome where there is literally no one until 1 hour post opening!
- Early visits are also our approach to doctor visits and physio. Usually cleaning crew go by in the evenings after clinic hours so all the surfaces should theoretically be wiped clean.
- If a coworker is sick, I wear a mask to remind myself not to touch my face and to constantly wash my hands (this is easier because I work in a hospital).
- We tried to teach ourselves just generally not to touch our faces, since that is how many germs are spread!
Now I can hear some (probably non preemie parents - yes yes, the millions of non preemie parents who read this blog) people saying that V needs to be building up her immunity and that getting sick is important. Yes. I hear you. Except for the fact that her development is a little borderline and I'm pretty sure that a hospital stay would not be helpful in developing her teeny muscles. Plus, our pediatric respirologist shared with us that the longer she can go without getting sick the better, because the larger she gets, the more healthy lung tissue she has created and the less likely it is going to overwhelm her. And at a wee 18 lbs, she is not exactly a heavyweight unfortunately. Also, apparently getting a lung infection causes inflammation that could put V at higher risk for chronic lung problems in the future. She has tons of time to catch all the lovely childhood diseases and build her immune system. For now, we're concentrating on building her lungs!
The one issue with her having never been sick is that we have no idea how she will respond when she finally does. Which encourages us to continue is our cycle of crazy isolation... because obviously it has been working for us... We are starting to wonder though, when will it be safe to stop all this?
xo
C
