I don't but I just wanted to say that I am a little worried about RSV myself. My 2 1/2 month old is robust and healthy, but the front page of today's newspaper said that there are huge numbers of RSV babies/toddlers pouring into our hospitals here the last few weeks. They are overflowing (I am in Lincoln NE) My son goes to a small home daycare so I am hoping that he is going to be okay and not catch it. I hope the others here can help you.

Aspen

Aspen - I have done a fair amount of research on RSV in the past few days and it is pretty scarey, not to alarm you. I would probably take in the newspaper article to your day care and talk to them about RSV, just to make sure that they are fully aware of the severity of it. Proper hand washing is essential, as is disposial of used tissues. There is a lot of info on the web regarding RSV, if you are intersted - just do a Yahoo search.
Lincoln? Our company is coming down from the Omaha area. Great. No children will be coming down, but the adults that will be visiting all are exposed to small children on a regular basis, which is why I am so concerned. My ped said that if any of them so much as scratch their nose we must have them go scrub their hands!
Best wishes to you and your baby during this cold and flu season! ~ Suzie

Are you in NE? Or are people visiting from Omaha? Omaha is only 45 minutes from Lincoln in case you aren't from here. Another teacher here where I work said that the hospitals in Omaha were rerouting infants to other hospitals due to an overload of RSV patients. I will definitely be searching for more info on preventing the spread of this, and will mention it to the daycare provider.

Thanks
Aspen

Hi! I just got back from the doctor with my son, who will be 4 months old tomarrow. He has a touch of RSV. The doctor said that as long as he is smiling, laughing, moving, and eating, he will be okay. She put him on 1/2 tsp. Benedryl every 6 hours. She also said that she has seen literally a hundred kids in 3 days with it. (I live in Georgia)
The doc said that if he coughs worse, stops eating like usual, and doesn't seem very interested, then I need to bring him back in.
I would get the injection, if I were you. No need to push luck. (Unless, ofcourse, there are side effects I'm not familiar with!)
Good Luck, and I'll pray your baby is safe. Your's, too, Aspen.
Love,
Tracie

Aspen - I was born and raised just across the Missouri River from Omaha, but have lived in Texas for 15+ years. All my family still lives back there and are all chomping at the bit to come visit!
Tracie - Side effects are minimal, from what I read. Here's the catch - the shot cost $900 and he will need them every 28-30 days through our RSV season. My ped assures me that our insurance will cover it. When I call them, they say they will but that "Verbal verification of coverage means diddely-squat; actual verification of coverage will be done
after the claim is filed and reviewed." Geez, at that price I hope they will pay for it! (Though after our $12,609.00 neonatologist bill we got today, $900 is just pennies!)
I hope your son recovers from RSV quickly. Most children do get it sometime before they are 2 years old and to the majority of them it is just a 'minor' illness. Best wishes, Suzie

I'm not familiar with Synagis either. But my son had RSV at age 3 YRS, he managed to get through it without hospitalization, but we did have to see the doctor almost every day for 2 weeks to get him through it. Those were the scariest weeks of parenthood for us. It was so hard to watch our child suffer, fight for every breath, and lie in bed too weak to even cry anymore. There was a day when I really thought he could not survive it. If it does that to a 3 year old, I just couldn't imagine an infant going through that.

You have a lot of things to weigh here. It will probably depend a lot on how much you trust your doctor.

RSV has seem to hit Chicago with a vengence too!!! My best friend's 4 month old has been in the hospital twice in the last 10 days for RSV. He is currently on a nebulizer, albuteral, antibiotics, and tylenol. It is scary stuff for an infant. Almost all kids (0-3 y.o) contract RSV, the difference is that it mainly shows up in the older ones as a major cold. In infants it can literally be deadly. My friend said that while she was in the hospital, the ward was overloaded with infants (younger than her's with RSV) and unfortunately the hospital was releasing some of them early due to insurance demands. She said one infant was still getting oxygen treatments and was released within 2 hours of his last treatment. YIKES!!!! $900.00 bucks sounds like peanuts to emergency hospital care.

Maybe get a second (or third) opinion?? Just a thought!!! Take care of all those yummy babies!!! :) Laya

Hi Suzie!
Are you happy about everyone visiting you? If you are, then disregard this post. My twin girls were born 6 weeks early, but fortunately, they did not spend time in the NICU. Within a week of being home, my DH's family descended on the house. One sister was planning on bringing her 3 school-aged/daycared children with her before I nipped that in the bud. Fortunately, nobody brought any germs with them, but if I had it to do over again, I would not allow any visitors for a LONG time. I know everyone is excited, but it is your child and some people don't realize they could be bringing some germs with them. Had my ~5 pound babies caught a bug, they could not afford to have lost any weight.
Best Wishes!
Amy

Stephanie - You mentioned "how much you trust your doctor" and I guess that is part of my issue. I do trust her, but this is our first born (and only after our birth problems) so this is our first pediatrician, first office visit, etc... She did come highly recommended by our family physician, though. They went to med school together years ago and now are practicing med just a few miles from each other. My husband and I both adore our family physician and do trust her recommendation, but "trust" is something you build on and not something garnered from one office visit.
Oh, Amy, you hit the nail on the head! No, I am not happy about people visiting. I can't even have my friends over because they have small children and could be carrying something, yet my MIL (who is raising two of her young grandchildren) is flying in! I am concerned about what she could be carrying from her other grandchildren (8 and 4) and what she may be exposed to on the airplane. The pediatrician said we should wait until the end of Feb at the earliest before having company, yet... Well, I won't go there. Our little one doesn't have any weight to lose, either. We are still struggling getting him to gain just a few precious ounces. (By the way, on another post you talked about bfing your premature twins. Do you have any advice? I am still pumping and bottle feeding because he can't latch on - gets frustrated sometimes, falls asleep other times. Thanks!)
~ Suzie

OK, WHAT IS RSV??????

Here are some links regarding RSV...
http://pediatrics.about.com/library/weekly/aa082901a.htm
http://www.rsvmd.com/backgnd.htm
http://www.mostonline.org/rsvfaq.htm

Luvmybulbs,
RSV stands for Rhino Syncytial Virus. I'll see if I can find a link in a sec. It is a highly contagious respiratory virus that almost everyone gets at some point. There is a "season" for, and we're in the middle of it. In an adult or older child, it's really just looks like a cold that holds on for a long time, couple weeks. When it gets bad in a small child or infant, the syptoms look like really bad bronchitis, or serious asthma, or even like pneumonia. In an infant, it can require hospitalization. When my son had it, the first diagnosis was pneumonia, the doctor literally could not hear his lungs in an exam. He was sent for chest xrays, which ruled out pneumonia and led to the RSV diagnosis. The home treatment for us was albuterol sulfate (like for asthma) given with a nebulizer (breathing treatments), among other oral medications. There were times when he just coughed and coughed and I just thought he would never get a breath. It looked like an asthma attack, he just wasn't able to fill his lungs. RSV can really sneak up on you because the people who expose your baby to it may seem pretty healthy, the are just old enough and strong enough to fight it off. A child with slight cold symtoms, not enough to even slow them down, could actually be carrying RSV.

This link looked the easiest to use of the ones I glanced at. I also did a search on yahoo for synagis and pretty much found the same info on all of them -not a whole lot. But what was there looked positive from a medical standpoint (the parts about the maker's profit because of it are annoying). It was apparently not available when my preschooler had RSV. I also had a 3 mos/old at the time and it was never even mentioned for him. Fortunately, we knew what was going on so at his first coughs we started the same treatment as his brother and he never got bad at all. If it had been available and insurance would cover it, I probably would have gone with it for the baby. It was hard to give breathing treatments to a 3 mos/old.

Suzie, the more I think of your post, the more I'm fuming for you over those relative being so insenstive! Are they actually staying with you? And to bring children, this is so wrong! I'm not an overprotective type mom, but this is an exceptional situation. Maybe you should send them some of these RSV links! Will the insurance company give you any confirmation in writing? Are you at all concerned about any side effects, or is it pretty much the insurance issue? Makes you want to send MIL the bill, huh?

Here is a link that might be useful: rsv info

Hi Suzie.
It's a tough situation for you. I know in my case my husband wanted to share our babies with everyone! It was up to me to be the gatekeeper and he often did not approve. I even enacted a ban on Sunday visitors b/c it seemed his dad wanted to visit every week and I was in NO mood for that. I needed time to adjust and settle in with two babies. People just don't get it! The FIL also wanted their relatives from Scotland (4 of them) to stop by and see them two hours after their plane touched down. I said "No Way" at that time and relented a week later after the relatives showed no signs of illness! I'm really not paranoid or a germaphobe as some mothers might be thinking. I'm actually a student nurse and deal with germs every day. And I've seen babies in the NICU struggling to breathe. My girls recently had colds one is still waking herself up at least 5 times a night coughing. She even choked on her phlegm one evening to the point of turning purple (very frightening!). I know for a fact that the germs came from Grandma and Auntie at Xmas. They failed to tell us that they had colds b/c they wanted to see the babies (or else they just didn't think). It is just not worth it to subject these helpless babies to any germs if you can help it. If you have doctor's advice to keep people away, that is a great excuse. In fact, I made up an excuse like that for my SIL. I told her the pediatrician said not to expose them to children for at least a month. That was in order to keep the peace b/c she was very defensive that I would not let her children visit.
Anyway, I ramble. :-)
As for breastfeeding, I'm sorry that I don't have any advice for you there. My girls were given formula in the hospital while I pumped to establish my supply. Well, my milk production was just pathetic! I even rented the Medela Lactina Select from the hospital b/c I didn't think my "Pump in Style" was doing the trick. I never really put them to the breast (only a few times) b/c after bottle feeding each baby for 20 minutes each, I was lucky to get 1.5 hours sleep before the next feeding. Breastfeeding would have taken forever and I didn't need the additional worry of wondering if they were getting enough to eat. I know that a baby will do a better job of increasing milk production, but I just didn't have the energy for two! Have you contacted the La Leche League? My friend's baby was deemed a "lazy sucker" and she pumped for him the whole time. Ironically, she had TOO much milk and stopped because of it. She would pump 14oz in a sitting while I would pump 2oz! Some people are sooo fortunate in that area.
Good Luck! I'm sorry that you are stressing over this. I completely understand. It is definitely not what you need right now. Is your husband on your side? If you feel so strongly against visitors (which you should with a preemie), you should be firm and go with your heart.
Best Wishes!
Amy

Dear Suzie:

I just wanted to say "hi" and tell you that I've been thinking of you every day, and I'm so glad that Elliot is home now. I'm so sorry that you had such a hard time.

I admire you so much for hanging in there with pumping the breastmilk, because that is SO good for the little guy. I hope that as he gets a little older and stronger that he will figure out how to latch on. It sounds as if he did do some nursing at the breast when he was still in the hospital?

I think you're right to be concerned about exposing Elliot to whatever visitors might be carrying by way of germs. He is getting antibodies from you in the breastmilk, but he's still such a little guy.

Not being in the middle of your family situation, it's easy for me to say: Tell all potential visitors that your pediatrician has insisted on No Visitors! until at least the end of February. I know that everyone wants to meet your new little boy, but I hope they can understand that it's not a great idea right now. And by the end of February, he'll be more alert and active and fun for them to play with. I hope you can work this out with the family.
If not, put them through full decontamination procedures!

Anyway, I'm so glad that you are all home now. I hope that a lactation consultant or La Leche League advisor can give you some help with the latching-on issue. I hope that you're recovering from your surgery well. Please give Elliot a big kiss on his soft little head for me.

Love,
Elizabeth

Suzie,
My son was born with an undiagnosed heart defect, had open heart surgery and was in the hospital for the first 2 months of his life. We just brought him home Jan 4th. In Ontario, RSV is given to all premature babies and children who are considered high risk. RSV presents itself as a cold. However, premies and babies with heart problems or pulmary problems who contract RSV are at high risk of being hospitalized and it can be worse that pneumonia to them.

Our son was given Synargis while in the hospital and every month we are going to there for a shot. RSV season is Nov - April. Thankfully Tomas had no side effects, just a little sore around the injection shot.

Talk to your doctor if you are concerned. He/She can give you the best advice for you baby.

Sue
mommy to Tomas(10/31)

My 7 week old nephew is in the hospital right now with RSV. He is holding his own, but they really can't give much medication to him. My SIL was fairly careful about exposing him to stuff, but they think the culprit was his 5 year old sister who goes to kindergarden every day. It's hard enough to keep babies safe with immediate family members, but I would definitely try to nix the outside relatives. My nephew is big and healthy, and he is struggling with this illness. A preemie just doesn't have enough defenses against RSV. Good luck. Do what you need to do to protect his health. You DON'T want to deal with RSV.

Well, I have decided to go ahead with the Synagis injection. We go in tomorrow for the first shot.
I lost the battle on the family visiting... So, in Elizabeth's words - all visitors must go through "full decontamination procedures!" And my husband knows that if anyone so much as sneezes in the house, they will be taken to the nearest hotel until their departing flight!
On the flip side - a lot of my family visited within days of my baby's birth, but he was in nicu and visitors had to go through the hospital's strict scrub down procedures. Plus, at that point I was the only one, besides medical staff, that was allowed to hold and touch him. It will be so different having people *into* our home that expect the touch and cuddle him.
Elizabeth - Yes, I am still pumping. I had to go return the one I was renting and went ahead and bought an electric one. The lady at the store said right away, "Oh, he has nipple confusion." Gr... All the nurses, doctors and lactation consultants at the hospital said there was really no such thing and that "some people" use that to scare new moms into not offering a bottle. Well, if he didn't get a bottle, Elliot was never going to come home! He had to eat 100% of his feedings on his own, no gavage feedings, and that just wasn't happening with breast feeding. I have to say, though, that 5 weeks of pumping is starting to wear on me. We have a LLL meeting next week and I think I may go. (Plus, the hospital's lactation consultants attends the meeting so she is already familiar with us!) He did latch on and nurse for 8 minutes today - yeah!!! Small steps...
Thank you everyone and I will try to keep you posted about the shot and how it goes. ~ Suzie

My third child had RSV last year no doctor had ever even mentioned this with my other child although at the same age 3 months my second daughter came down with the same thing which I believe went undiagnosed my old school doctor treated her in the office and sent her home and all H*LL broke loose then my third came down with it but my new Peditrician took one look at right to the hospital we were sent sure enough she had it pretty bad and we were scared to death I cried everytime they took blood form her heel...Thank God it went away but my Doctor said My third should have been inoculated but being that my secod wasnt swabed for it there no proof but she swares that what it was and says if I have another hild she insists on giving the inoculation!