Surviving our first cold

Welcome to RSV season. 

I felt that message was screamed loud and clear to me last week. Not one, not two, not even three, but 4 of our micropreemies were sick last week with colds...mine included. Seriously, one week into the season and the isolation kids are sick? This is going to be a looooong winter.

But, we are thankful. On the first-third days, Pierce was wheezing pretty bad. He held his sats good until the 4th night. By then we had started Pulmicort, Albuterol and the dreaded oral steroid, Prednisone. Thankfully the steroid cocktail did it's trick and by the 5th day, his wheezing was hardly noticeable.

We were warned that in micropreemies colds can tend to drag on for ages. That's because their immune systems are weakened and they can't fight off the germs like a healthy child.

And so, we're on day 10... and the cold is still going strong. Lots of snot. Lots of coughs. Lots of steroid treatments.

And with every day, sometimes hour that passes, I find myself so, so thankful we've entered isolation season. Every time I start to get restless or bored of sitting inside, I want to think back on this yucky time. Remember why we're playing it safe.

Will you please pray that Pierce's body will be able to kick this cold out soon? And pray for the health of his other micropreemie friends, specifically Noah, Alli, and Cohen who all dealt with colds last week.

Thanks for walking this journey with us.

Oct. 1

October 1st. The official start of RSV (cold/flu) season in Charlotte. The official start of Pierce's second isolation season. The official return to blogging (sorry we've been MIA, we've been enjoying the long, warm summer days!).

Pierce had his last hoorah this past weekend- My brother and Emily tied the knot.

Every micorpreemie is different, and each have different recommendations from their doctors on how their parents should handle this dreaded season of sickness. For us, we're dealing with a severe case of Chronic Lung Disease. Pierce has so many factors stacked against him when it comes to the respiratory department- he didn't receive any steroids before birth, he was mechanically ventilated for 2+ months, he required oxygen for over 9 months after that, and to top it off, at his last pulmonology appointment, his chest x-ray showed one of the worst cases of lung disease his doctor had seen in a while. Because of this, the doctors have recommended two years of RSV isolation. We have one down (last year) and now are ready to tackle season 2 head on.

What does the start of this season mean for us? This means no more casual outings, no more church services, no more dinner dates, no more Target runs... ah, the list could go on and on and writing it makes me long for more summer days as I remember all the fun we've had! Just about the only thing that Pierce will be allowed to do now is go to therapy and doctors appointments. It also means the start of the monthly Synagis shot (this shot lowers his chance of contracting RSV).

Of course, this year, Pierce is much stronger and for that we are so thankful. We will probably go outdoors a lot (hoping for another mild winter like last year!) and find activities that we can modify to fit his needs.

Last year, I posted this list of things that helped us survive the long season... I'm sure many of them will be things I can rely on again this year.I'm really looking forward to doing more skype playdates because it allows me to connect with friends from all over the country. (Email me at thepreemiepierce@gmail.com so that we can set up a "play" date!)

Would you please pray for us as we start this scary season? And pray for Pierce's continued health? Pray also for his many other micropreemie friends who are also entering this season. And pray for all of their parents who are forced to deal with the hard task of caring for a medically fragile child.

Many thanks for walking this journey with us,

Lindsay

Want more info on preemie lungs and the dangers of RSV? Visit Life with Jack for this great blog post

RSV isolation top 10 list

Now that RSV season is coming to an end (yeah!), I thought it would be neat to create a top ten list to reflect on some of the things that helped me survive these past 8 months of isolation. Hopefully this list will be a resource for parents who are new to isolation and wondering how they are going to survive this next season of their lives.

Before I start, I'd like to preface this list in saying that isolation wasn't really that bad. Sure there were moments (and many of them) when I wanted to pull my hair out. There were times when I found myself telling my husband that isolation was equal to a life in prison. And still, other times that I found myself not showering for days and wondering if I'd ever wear anything but pajamas ever again. But for every bad time, there were far more good days. Isolation has also been good for my soul- it's been a time to heal from our traumatic NICU days. Times when I was so overwhelmed and thankful for Pierce's life. Thankful for this opportunity to spend so much time with my baby. To soak up every ounce of his babyhood without the daily hustle-and-bustle most new moms face. And I must add, it only took me one trip out with a medically-fragile child to quickly see that staying at home beats the alternative (clorox wiping everything, sanitizing 546,769 times and keeping your baby's car seat covered at all costs).

And so, here it is. My list. The top ten things that helped me survive our first RSV isolation. (click on the images to enlarge)

Oh and while you're at it, pop over to Life with Jack and check out their list of tips for surviving RSV season.