RSV Season Is Here

According to our Pedi RSV season is here (October thru April). For those of you who are unaware what RSV is, RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus), it is more than just a cold. It's a serious and contagious virus for young children especially those born less than 36 weeks. Our triplets were born at 32 weeks and 2 days. What is a common cold or mild cough for us as adults can manifest itself into something more dangerous to the babies if they are exposed to it, especially our babies who were born prematurely. The babies doctor has asked us to keep them in the house and away from others as much as possible for our second season.

It is very,very easy to contract RSV. It is spread by physical contact (such as shaking hands with an infected person) or thru the air (usually from sneezing or coughing). RSV can also live for several hours on surfaces, such as doorknobs, telephones, faucet handles, counters or used tissues, towels, etc. RSV infections are very common in areas where people are crowded together. In homes where there are multiple children, such as us, RSV can spread very rapidly from child to child. An older child can even bring the virus home from school or a friend's house. Since we have an older child at home we make sure he changes clothes as soon as he is home from school. We are not mandating people also do this when coming to the house but if you work in a busy place it may be a good idea.

Please refrain from coming over if you are currently sick, or you were sick but have not been symptom-free for at least 5 days, or have been in contact with someone who is/was sick. This means if someone is sick in your home you may be carrying this with no symptoms. Please reschedule your visit to a later date. We also ask you wash your hands and sanitize when you first come in. Please don't get in the babies' faces, let them chew on things other than their toys, don't kiss on them, etc. I know my children have a habit of sticking their fingers in the mouths of others. Please do not let them do this.

Even though they are getting big and have been otherwise healthy we still need to be extra careful about illness, especially RSV. Their lungs have come a long way. But believe it or not, they are still very fragile, at least until the age of 2. Then we can all breathe a little easier.

Please don't take this the wrong way. This email was not meant to offend anyone or isolate us from anyone or anything in particular. We are just trying to do what is best for the kids. We are taking the threat of RSV very seriously and just needed to set some simple guidelines. We hope you understand and appreciate your respect on this matter.

Thank you for respecting our wishes and helping us keep our children as healthy as possible this RSV season.

The trio will start their synagis shots at their one year appointment. We had hoped to start them this month but just now got the approval from insurance. This shot does not protect them from RSV. It does however make it less severe.

I do plan on taking our daily walks until the weather will no longer allow me to. I bought signs that says to "Please wash your hands before touching mine" however when people finally notice them they are already too close. If any of my local readers see stroller bug nets around please let me know where. I did not see them at wal-mart but might have missed them. I want to get these in hopes to ward off all the handling of my babies. You would be surprised how many strangers/people touch on them.

If you have any questions on any of this the sites below have all the answers.
http://www.preemiecare.org/rsv_resourceshtm.htm
http://www.synagis.com/how-synagis-works.aspx