Here's what I did that first winter in which we were told to count on at least one admission to the hospital for pneumonia, the admission that never happened.
We'd been told to avoid large groups of people. We have a large family, dozens of cousins, a gaggle of doting aunts, and the Grandmas! How do you tell the Grandmas to keep their hands off the baby!
You tell them:
*If you're sick, anyone in your family is sick, anyone you walked by in the grocery store is sick, any passenger in any car you passed on the road is sick; STAY AWAY FROM MY BABY.
*If you're sure you're healthy, you may visit.
*No kissing the baby. No way. No how. Kissing privileges are for Mommy and Daddy only. Deal with it.
*Wash your hands before you touch the baby.
On second thought, here are some gloves, wear two pair please.
*See that bottle of Purell over there, use it every 30 seconds if you don't mind.
The holidays can be tough. Everyone wants to get together, have a big party, spoil the little ones rotten, shower the littlest ones with love and snuggles and, gah, more kisses.
That first winter, we skipped the holidays. Thanksgiving was a quiet affair, just Dennis, myself and Graham. Christmas was more of the same. Visitors were allowed, a few at a time, after passing the rigorous health screening.
I know we upset some folks. Graham actually didn't seem very sick. It wouldn't have taken much to land him in the hospital though, and our goal was simply keeping him out.
Other precautions that I took;
*Doctor appointments are unavoidable. I had a system with his pediatrician; I'd call ahead that I was on my way so they'd be ready for me as I ran in, bypassing the petri dish waiting room and heading straight for a treatment room.
*Try to get the first appointment of the day, (come on, you're up anyway), so as not to run into any other snot nosed patients.
*If your baby is going to get a Synagis (RSV) shot once a month, the office should be offering it as a separate clinic. Ours was on a Saturday morning, and the appointments were staggered so kids didn't really run into each other. If your doctor isn't doing this, well, they should. Mention it, you know, squeaky wheel and all.
*For therapy appointments, I'd wait in the car until the exact time of the appointment and go right into the therapy room.
*For hospital visits, I'd keep the stroller closed up so no one was tempted to even peek inside and breathe on Graham.
*Call your doctor out if he/she doesn't scrub up before touching your kid. They won't mind, and if they do, tough.
Things that may help during your winter of isolation:
*Clean the house. I know, wicked fun. But the smell of bleach was so comforting to me knowing I was killing all sorts of nasty germs.
*Embrace your inner lazy ass. You won't be leaving the house much. There's only so much cleaning you can do. You won't have many visitors. Watch bad daytime TV. Troll the Internet (fun stuff, not boring medical stuff, you know all that crap already anyway). Learn to cross stitch (this was my favorite). Blab on the phone.
*Exercise? Um, I got some tapes, maybe did them a couple times. If you can do it, rock on with your bad self, I'll be on the couch eating Smartfood.
I'm not going to preach; "make time for yourself". You know this is bull. Keep your baby home and healthy. You'll have time for yourself in your next life.
So Graham just started first grade. He's a grubby little varmint going to school with a bunch of other grubby little varmints. Oh, and they're all Deaf so they're extra handsy. The Swine Flu perfect storm.
I'm not freaking out, really.
He'll get his flu shot, and the H1N1 shot. I'm going to pull the Mommy of SN kid/nurse card and say;
GET YOUR FREAKING FLU SHOT.
Unless there is a real medical reason that you can't (and I know there are several), just get the stupid shot. I can't stand hearing;
"I've never gotten the flu shot and I've never gotten the flu."
Just get the damn shot. Scared of needles? I'm a great shot, all my patients tell me so, come on over, I'll hook you up. The shot is not a 100% guarantee that you won't get some sort of flu, but seriously, don't you want to do everthing you can to keep yourself and your family from getting the flu?
Which leads me to the single most important and simplest thing you can do to stay healthy this flu season:
WASH YOUR HANDS
I bopped on over to the CDC website for their handwashing guidelines. Good stuff for sure, but I had some things to add.
When washing hands with soap and water:
*Wet your hands with clean running water and apply soap. Use warm water if it is available. Not too hot! You don't need to be in pain to kill those germs.
*Rub hands together to make a lather and scrub all surfaces. Rubbing is key, it busts up all those germie cells, pulverizes the little suckers.
*Continue rubbing hands for 20 seconds. Need a timer? Sing Yankee Doodle Dandy, make up dirty words to amuse yourself. If there are children present, the ABC's work.
*Rinse hands well under running water.
*Dry your hands using a paper towel or air dryer. If possible, use your paper towel to turn off the faucet, remember the dirty hand you used to turn it on? Ya. The handle is nasty, don't go touching it with your clean hand ok?
*Even at home, use paper towels. That cloth thing hanging on the cabinet door? When was the last time you washed it? I thought so. If you have tree killing guilt, let your hands air dry, it's better for your skin anyway.
*Try not to touch the door handle to the bathroom, or any other door handle or knob that you encounter anywhere, those things are crawling with germs. Kick doors open whenever you can.
*Remember: If soap and water are not available, use alcohol-based gel to clean hands.
When using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer:
*Apply product to the palm of one hand.
*Rub hands together. I know some people think that the alcohol alone is going to kill all those microbes. Well guess what. It doesn't. You need friction to kill those bad boys. So RUB RUB RUB (that's what he said) like your life depends on it!
*Keep rubbing the product over all surfaces of hands and fingers until hands are dry. I go all the way up to my elbows.
When should you wash your hands?
*Before preparing or eating food. Duh.
*After going to the bathroom. Duh.
*After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has gone to the bathroom. Duh.
*Before and after tending to someone who is sick. Duh.
*After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing. Yes, and the coughing and/or sneezing should be done into your sleeve, not into your hands.
*After handling an animal or animal waste, cause I know you're all picking up dog poop with your bare hands.
*After handling garbage. Um, duh.
*Before and after treating a cut or wound. I know, duh.
Basically, if your hands aren't red, chapped and bleeding by Columbus day, you're not doing it right. Forget your perfectly manicured nails. Cut those things short, slather good lotion on when you can, wear nice cotton gloves at night, and schedule that mani/pedi for Mother's day.
I probably haven't told you anything you don't already know, and I've probably forgotten much.
Please chime in with any thoughts, ideas, or even questions!
Thanks for reading,
