Keeping Healthy

By now I believe everyone knows we have limited our visitors here. The only "regulars" here are our immediate family and special helpers. And can you believe that not all of our immediate family has met the boys?! It is true. We just cannot be too careful and some of our family has been exposed to the H1N1 virus.

If you think we are being overcautious you are probably right! I would ask you to imagine staying in a hospital for 8 weeks away from your child and husband to try and get your babies here healthy and safe and then once they arrive to only be able to visit them as they live at that hospital for 3-6 more weeks. We certainly do not want to go back and will do whatever it takes to keep everyone home and healthy. The policies at Rush and Children's Memorial are to allow only parents in the NICU and no visitors under 18 at Children's.

Of course this does wear on Matt and I as we have had to turn down offers of help. Most of our friends have children, little ones we adore and miss seeing! Unfortunately, we are not able to have them visit at this time and really need to limit all visitors to those only necessary for us to accomplish our daily needs.

Also, anyone who does visit must first be completely healthy, have not been in contact with anyone ill for at least a week (at least a month for either the seasonal or H1N1 flus), have not been exposed to any illnesses, and have had both the H1N1 and seasonal flu shots (these vaccines will help, but are not a guarantee). Our children have absolutely zero immunity right now, so we do need to be vigilant. I know it can be difficult to understand, but we ask that you please do and just run through the situation and possibilities in your head. I am sure you'd make the same decisions.

Aside from the flus that are making their way like wildfire, we also need to be careful about RSV. If your child has ever had it, then you know how serious it is and adding to the equation that our kiddos were 7 weeks premature AND imagine 4 kiddos sick with it and hospitalized.

We have taken precautions as a family. We are not attending any Thanksgiving or Christmas celebrations - we are in lockdown mode and while Ethan will return to school (after having both the flu and H1N1 vaccinations), he does keep his distance from the boys and wears a mask around the house if he is feeling ill.

Here is link to a letter from the MOST (Moms of SuperTwins). It is a key organization for moms of multiples and it outlines the dangers of RSV:

http://www.preemiecare.org/rsvletter.pdf

We appreciate your concern for our children's health and your understanding!