Freaking out - Germs

Cara03

I caught a cold and it's the first time my husband or I have been sick since bringing home DS (6.5 months actual, 3 adjusted). I feel like I'm a big walking contaminated nastiness and surely going to get DS sick since I am the only one to take care of him during the days. I'm wearing a mask around him and washing hands and sanitizing them all the time, but I feel like it's not enough. I can't shake all the germ thoughts, like there being some virus on my shirt, DS touching my shirt, and getting sick, and ending up back in the hospital. How do you deal?

Irishsapphire

Seriously, at the hospital, we were always asked to wash our hands before seeing our baby.  And if we changed a diaper, we were supposed to wash our hands again.  I am a germiphobe at this point.  The hospital did explain to us that there are some sick people at the hospital who are walking around, so the hospital is just more cautious, especially with preemie babies. 

I am so worried that someone will want to hold him or they will breathe on him, and he will get sick.  The only thing I can do is to ask them to wash their hands and not to breathe on him.  And if they are sick, it is probably best for them not to be around him. 

My husband and I have both have colds recently.  My husband has not been able to go to the hospital with me because of his cold, but he is getting better.  And I was able to get over my cold--and I have felt more confident to touch my son and to begin breastfeeding--seriously I was touching my son through his blanket or I would look through his see through clear plastic bassinette at the hosptial (so I would not breathe directly on him). 

My pet peeve is that something falls on the floor so I have to rewash it, or it falls on the floor and I think that the germs will eventually get to my son. 

I guess that is the only way you can deal with it.  I think it is just good to be overcautious and careful especially with a preemie baby.   

msalinardi@live.com

At the beginning of the year I got ridiculously sick and I was the main one who took care of DD. I just made sure I washed my hands a lot and even though it sucked for Angelina, I tried to hold/touch her as little as possible. I basically only held her to feed her and as soon as DH came home he was on baby duty. It worked out pretty well because even though what I had was super contagious ( I got DH, my mom, my sister and my brother sick) Angelina did't even get the sniffles. Good luck and feel better!

erinri02

We are so similar.  I got sick two months after my boys came home for the NICU.  I did the masks and washed my hands til they bled. 

I also Lysoled everything.  I would change clothes a few times a day until I wasn't sick anymore.

As soon as I was feeling better.  I went on a cleaning spree.  I washed everyone's bedding.  I disinfected everything.  I probably spent two days scrubbing everything in my house.

My boys never got sick!

Cara03

Thanks for the stories of hope that with precautions, it is possible to prevent our LO's catching our germs. So far DS is still healthy and it's day 4 of me having the cold. Not sure how long I have to wait to consider him out of danger.