Sunday, May 5, 2013

That one post where I sound like a total lunatic...

Ever since Pierce was home from the hospital, heck probably while he was in the NICU, people have said, "We have to have a play date!"  "We have to get our kids together" And people actually expected me to want to have their kid(s) around my baby a week, 2 weeks, a month, after he was home from the NICU.


When those nurses and doctors told us that his first year would be sensitive, I wrote that on my Mama-brain, and haven't wavered.  We were told NO day cares, NO nurseries, NO interaction with sick people, NO interaction with children who went to daycares.  Pierce could NOT get sick.  Under no circumstances.

(Break my heart that the time he DOES get sick, it's because I have a sinus & ear infection and pick up RSV while I'm at the doctor's office...Mom of the Year!)

When you bring home a NICU baby, after the fight to get them healthy and home, you listen to the directions you're given.  You are even more over protective than the mommy who brought her baby straight home, healthy.  

Now that Pierce is 8 months old, moving and interacting more, I have had more invitations to play dates.  In indoor play places of all things.  Yes, please, let me take my babe to a germ haven.  I don't care that there are employees walking around with disinfectant spray wiping things down, they can't get every square inch wiped.  There will always be that one handle that little Billy licked, that one ball that snotty nosed Mindy rubbed across her face.
Yes, this is the way a NICU mom sees the world.  Germs crawling everywhere.
There is always that mom who will take her sick kid to play.
There is always the kid who's exposed but not showing symptoms...yet.  One thing we learned through RSV, it can take 5-7 DAYS for symptoms to show up.  You can be walking around feeling great, but all grossly infected with The Crud, for a week before you're knocked on your butt.
This is the way a NICU mom sees the world.

I won't let him sit in a high chair or grocery cart with out HIS high chair cover.  I will make sure that I wipe the table and even the wall, if he can reach it, with a Lysol wipe.  Yes, I do carry a canister of Lysol wipes in my diaper bag.  I get some seriously funny looks, but have you ever worked in a restaurant?  Do you know that they "clean" the tables with cloths that go into a bucket full of soapy water?  Grab a cloth, wipe the table, toss it back into the bucket.  There's no sanitizing anything, no making sure you actually cleaned the table.  I've done it.  I was 17 and thought it was really gross then.  With more education under my belt, it makes me want to vomit.
The other day we went to a restaurant and I wiped the table down, my wipe turned BROWN.  BROWN people.
I don't let MY utensils touch restaurant tables, why would I let Pierce put his hands on it?!  Those hands go to his mouth, and on those hands ride the germs of the restaurant patrons who sat there before us...

I've had strangers ask if they could hold him.  Um, you don't know me, I don't know you.  NO you may not hold my child.  Please, keep your grubby mitts off of my baby!  I've adopted a very unwelcoming look, and the requests to hold Pierce have subsided!

I'm hoping that once we reach Pierce's one year anniversary out of the NICU I'll lighten up.  But, I make no promises considering that will be in September, just a couple of months before the start of flu season.

I get so tired of hearing people tell me "You can't keep him in a bubble"  GEEZ PEOPLE, he's not even been home a year yet!  He's been out of the NICU 8 months, exactly.
"You can't prevent him from getting sick"  Well, no, you're right, I can't.  However, I'm not going to purposefully expose him to an illness.  Would you expose yourself to a sick person on purpose?  No!  Who would?  So why, on earth, would I purposefully expose my almost 9 month old to something?

I breastfeed so he gets my antibodies, among other reasons.
I keep him home and away from other children to protect his immature immune system.  Especially when you're talking about anything that could cause him breathing troubles.
I'm a protective Mama.
If you don't like it, any of it, hate it for you.



3 comments:

  1. 8 months is a little young for play dates Amy didn't start really going until she was 11 months and could actually play with other kids lol

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  2. I think it's great he has invites for playdates! Sloan is in daycare so technically he gets playdates every day hahaha! I completely understand what you're saying mama! Working in daycare I completely understand AND respect what you're saying and where you're coming from! You have every right as Pierce's mama to be as overprotective as you CAN/WANT to be! Good for you! You are a great mama!!! He is so blessed and lucky to have you!

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  3. At 8 months babies aren't playing together. They are playing around each other. They don't understand. It's probably an excuse to get to see you or the baby. Either way, they should respect your wishes and stop pressuring you into play dates. You don't sound like a lunatic... You sound like a concerned mom trying to follow doctor's orders. Found you while I was blog hopping around. :)

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