That Time of Year Again

RSV season has officially started. I planned on talking to our pediatrician about the boys' risk for RSV this year at their 15 month appointment in November, but Ryder decided we should go see them sooner. Last night he had a fever of 101.9 so we gave him Tylenol and put him to bed. He was up very early this morning just miserable and burning up (102.3) with a really stuffy/runny nose and sneezing. So I got both boys in the car and we went to the walk-in hour at the pediatrician. She looked him over and listened closely to his lungs and said they are clear along with his ears and throat looking good. She did take a blood sample and run a CBC just to be sure and it came back fine. So he has a cold right now and hopefully it won't get worse, but we will watch him closely. Of course, we will be watching Zak as well since he will more than likely get the same thing. Seems the only thing the boys can share is illnesses!

While there the pediatrician also talked to me about having the boys see an immunologist to have testing done on their immune system. Zak's pulmonologist has also mentioned this to us at his last appointment. They are concerned since they both had the H. Influenza in May which is a pretty uncommon thing to find these days. So we will find one and make an appointment for both boys.

Now, for RSV season....the pediatrician said with preemies they usually say to be careful the second RSV season as well. She also said with their unknown immune system we should be extra careful with them during RSV season this year and we will know more once they have the testing done. For those of you who are unaware what RSV is, RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus), is more than just a cold. It's a serious and contagious virus for young children especially those born less than 36 weeks. As you know the boys were born at 30 weeks and 3 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.
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. And older children can even bring the virus home from school or a friend's house.

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. We will once again have some hand sanitizer sitting around the house so please use that if you come to visit. Also, there will be NO smoking at our house, not that there ever has been. If in doubt, don't come over. Also, please understand that we may cancel plans at the last minute. Please understand that this may mean that we will not be able to attend certain events from October to April. This letter is not meant to offend anyone it is only a reminder of what we are going through and the steps we need to take to keep our children healthy.

Even though they are getting big 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 they are two. Then we can all breathe a little easier. Thank you for respecting our wishes and helping us keep our children as healthy as possible this RSV season.