I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for MedImmune. I received product samples to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.
World Prematurity Day on November 17th is an important day to me. on It’s no secret here on Pretty Opinionated that I have quite a bit of experience as a mom to a preemie. Jacob was born at 32 weeks due to my preeclampsia. He was a whopping 3lbs, 5oz. At one point, he dropped down to 2lbs, 9oz. So itty bitty that I had to wait for him to grow into preemie clothes! He came home on an apnea/brady monitor, to track his breathing and heart rate. When either dipped too low, alarms went off that sent shivers of panic down my spine. It didn’t help that our African Grey parrot quickly learned to mimic that sound!
We were SO lucky. Jake was mostly a “feeder/grower” baby, meaning he only had to stay in the NICU until he was able to eat on his own and showed that he could gain weight. He came home after just 13 days, at just around 4 pounds. He actually did better than I did. Between my blood pressure that wouldn’t come down and a post-op infection, I was a mess much longer than he was.
RSV Prevention in Preemies
One thing the doctors were incredibly concerned about, though, despite how well my little man did? RSV. Those three little letters stand for respiratory syncytial [sin-sish-uhl] virus, and it can spell big trouble for our littlest ones. Jacob’s doctor recommended that he get a series of RSV vaccines until the height of the season was over. Every month from I believe October through March, a visiting nurse came out to give him the injection. She sat with us for half an hour to make sure he didn’t have any negative reactions, which he never did. He also never got RSV, thank goodness.
RSV is an incredibly contagious and quite common illness among infants and toddlers. Most kids catch it by their second birthday. Most kids also recover within a week or two without major issues. Preemies are not most kids. In premature babies, consequences of RSV can include pneumonia, swelling of the breathing passages and prolonged hospitalizations.
My son wasn’t breathing when he was born.I had to wait what seemed like eternity to hear his first cry. It was likely about ten seconds, but it seemed longer. I never wanted to go through that again.
How do you prevent RSV in preemies?
I highly suggest visiting RSVProtection.com for more information. They have so much information on everything from risk factors to prevention tips. If you’re worried that your baby could be at risk, take their RSV disease risk assessment.
You can also grab a list of questions to ask your doctor about RSV, hear stories from parents who have gone through it and find other resources for preventing and understanding RSV. It only takes a few minutes and mouse clicks to arm yourself with the knowledge you need to help protect your preemie from RSV. If you even think your baby could be at risk, please take the time to do it.
Do you have any personal experience dealing with RSV? Tell me about it in the comments.
