Do You Treat Your Preemie Differently?
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 19:31All of our kids are sick again. Actually, I don’t even know if it really qualifies as again, since it seems like someone in the house has been sick continuously for the past 3 weeks. Naturally, I’m concerned about our youngest, since he’s just 4 months old this week, and he’s the most likely candidate for a hospital stay, oxygen or whatever other badness you can think of from his current case of bronchiolitis. Or is he?
I’ve been carefully monitoring his oxygen with our pulse ox, giving him nebulizer treatments and antibiotics for the ear infection that has returned after only two days of medicine. But, no matter who is most sick, I can’t help but be reminded of why we have our very own pulse oximeter in the first place.
After our 31 weeker was discharged from the NICU, less than a week after she reached her due date, she contracted RSV and influenza A. She ended up in the hospital for 5 more days, and on oxygen for 6 weeks. Once we finally got her weaned of the O2, she had the bad habit of dropping her oxygen saturations if a someone so much as talked about being sick around her. Worse yet, when she was sick, she developed an even nastier habit of needing more and more oxygen whenever she fell asleep. We’d start out at 1/4 L at bedtime, and end up on 1 1/2 L by 3 am. I spent endless hours watching the pulse ox we wrangled out of our insurance company. In fact, she was like this for so long, our insurance company actually bought our pulse ox machine.
Whenever anyone is sick, I find myself watching our preemie like a hawk. Just a year ago, a sniffle would have landed her on oxygen for a week. Every time she coughs, I haul out the pulse ox and my stethoscope, take her temperature, etc, etc. I constantly expect the worst, but when our eldest is sick, I usually assume she’s just fine (she’s healthy, 5 years-old, and VERY dramatic).
I wonder if I’ll always watch over her a little more closely. Will a cough or a sniffle always put me on edge, or will the problems she’s had gradually fade into the background? Will I always treat her a little differently? Sometimes I think my vigilance is justified, but other times I wonder.
What do you think?
Similar Posts:
- Being a Preemie Mom after the NICU – Blogging for Prematurity Awareness
- Busy Breathers Oxygen Backpack Makes Life on the Go Easier – What’s New Wednesday
- Preemie Burned when Oxygen Hood Ignites
- She’s Traveled a Long Road – Blogging for Prematurity Awareness Month
Kristi says:
November 18th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
Hey. I just came by from Stacie’s site (It’s a Corny Life). Abby and my son were in the NICU at the same time. My little guy was actually born at 38 weeks, 2 days; but due to several medical complications spent a week in the NICU. I know I totally treat him differently than I expected I would. I am hyper vigilant about who touches him and they better have just gelled their hands. I avoid sick people at all costs. I check on him while he is sleeping a lot (even though he is 14 months old). He is our first, so I can’t compare my treatment of him to another child, but I think I will always be extra careful about germs and him. He still has some surgeries to go, so getting sick is not a good option for him anyway, but still….I totally feel justified, but wonder if I will ever feel comfortable to tone it down.
It was nice to see in one of your posts that you are finally getting beyond your daughter’s rough start. I hope to join you one day….
Have a good night!
Kristie says:
November 20th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Krisit-
Thanks for stopping by
It’s definitely been a long road for us. I think it helps that she’s been pretty healthy for the past two years. In fact,when the whole family got swine flu, she didn’t even get sick! After catching everything on the planet for her first two years, she’s got some sort of super immune system now. I worry a bit about how school will go, but we make progress every day, so I’m trying not worry.
-Kristie