I admit it...I am a total germaphobe. I blame my mother, who is the same way and always drilled it into our heads growing up:)
I was completely neurotic about germs with DS #1. He was born the summer that the swine flu epidemic came about, and he was too little to get vaccinations, so I would be sick to my stomach any time someone would touch him when he was a baby. I am already dreading the anxiety that will ensue with this one...I know that is ridiculous, but it is what it is.
When my sister was a baby (4 weeks), she attended a family party (during the summer) and while everyone else got a nasty stomach bug, she got sick and ended up with Spinal Meningitis! This has always freaked me out....In fact, my son is going to turn 3 about 3+ weeks after DS#2 is born, and I am already stressing about having people over for his birthday, with DS#2 being so little. Just venting, I know I am extreme/a freak...just wondering if anyone else felt the same!
Re: Any other germaphobes out there?
I am I am! I always ask people to wash thier hands or use sanitizer before touching my babies. I will be making my older ones wash the second they walk in from school.
Go to www.mytinyhands.com
You might like one of those. I got one.
I kind of go both ways on this one, LOL. On one hand, I've been extremely careful throughout this whole pregnancy about taking precautions like washing my hands often and sanitizing my desk at work, my iPhone, etc. at least once a week with antibacterial cleaner, just so I could avoid getting sick during cold/flu season and not being able to take any meds for it. When baby gets here I plan to keep wet wipes/bottles of hand sanitizer prominently displayed throughout the house so people get the message that I'd like them to wash their hands, without having to be pushy about it.
On the other hand, I believe that too much sanitation can be bad for a baby. How else will he ever develop his immune system if he doesn't get to be around any germs at all? So in my opinion, as long as everyone uses common sense about hand washing and not coming over to our house if they have a cold or something, I'm fine with our baby being in contact with people.