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December 2014 Moms
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CMV Awareness! *Possible Trigger*

brunettebaby32brunettebaby32 member
in December 2014 Moms

Please share this video. I lost my infant son when he was 9 days old due to a virus called CMV. Most people don't know about CMV and I'm trying to get the word out and cross posting in order to try and help prevent others from going through the same tragedy that we have been through. I post some websites at the bottom of the video for more information.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdbberw3Ym4

 Basically, CMV is a virus that most people come in contact with, and is only harmful when the immune system is compromised, such as in pregnany. The virus can spread from mother to baby and can cause birth defects and death. The best way to prevent this virus is to wash your hands and know the synptoms (fevers, and feeling like you have the flu) so you can get antiviral medication to keep it from spreading to your baby!

Please share! It might save a life. 

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Re: CMV Awareness! *Possible Trigger*

  • JRod13JRod13 member
    I had no idea about CMV. Thank you for making me aware. Such a precious little guy. I'm so so sorry for your loss.
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  • caden1206caden1206 member
    I am very sorry for your loss.
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  • amedberyamedbery member
    So sorry for your loss. Thank you for using that tragedy to prevent others from suffering the same fate. I have never heard if CMV.
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  • jlbeanzajlbeanza member
    I'm so sorry for your loss. I've heard of this before, and it freaks me out as a mom, because how do you NOT come into contact with your child's spit? My kid loves to kiss me on the mouth, and I can't imagine refusing her for nine months. Plus she always wants to drink out of my glass, use my fork, and puts her fingers in her mouth and then into mine...it's just so hard to avoid all of that, I don't know how people do it. I guess the best I can do is wash my hands, wash my daughter's hands, and pray we don't come in contact with CMV. :(


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  • chaulioduschauliodus member
    MrsAngelaMarie said:
    I am glad to see you bring this up! I am not going to watch the video right now, though, since I am currently being screened for the development of a new cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and I don't want to start freaking out again. 

    I am a nurse and was exposed about 6 weeks ago to CMV. A lot of the nurses I work with refuse to take care of patients with CMV (and I admit I had never researched it), but I had been taking care of a particular patient for a week or so before we found out she was CMV positive. I chose to continue to take care of her because building relationships with patients and their families makes me feel good about what I do. Anyways, I unfortunately had an incident in which her stomach contents splashed directly into my eye. I flushed my eyes immediately, and THEN decided to google the dreaded CMV, probably a little too late. I freaked and immediately contacted my OB. 

    Apparently, if you have contracted CMV prior to being pregnant (and a lot of us have and don't even know it!), contracting CMV a second time is MUCH less harmful to a fetus. (There are two blood tests available for CMV - one that tells you if you have had CMV in the past, and one that tells you if you have a recent/new CMV infection. I was keeping my fingers crossed that at some point during my nursing career I had contracted the virus in the past, but I was very disappointed to find out that I had no past immunity to CMV in my blood. CMV has an incubation period of up to 12 weeks, meaning it can take that long for me to become actively infected. Four weeks post exposure, I was negative, but I still need to be screened for the next two months. Fingers crossed. 

    I want to reiterate that CMV is not particularly dangerous to otherwise healthy people (including children) outside the womb. And my story is actually an uncommon way to contract CMV, the most common way is from young children. Young children, especially those who socialize often with other young children, such as in the day care setting, are the most common carriers of CMV. And CMV is spread through body fluids, such as urine and saliva. So anyone who comes into close contact with young children regularly (this includes pregnant mothers with children in day care) should really be careful and take precautions. Lots of hand washing! 
    Hopefully it will all turn out fine. I'm in medicine too and had a similar issue. I get lots of consults on heme/onc kids and other kids at risk of CMV and I saw one somewhere around my 16th week or so that turned out to be positive and scoped a suspicious one around 12 wks.  I've definitely been exposed in the past since I used to work in a transplant center but my titers were suprisingly also negative. Seems like it can be pretty hard to catch, I was sure I would be positive, but it wasn't. I just had repeat titers which were still neg this week and hopefully yours will be negative too. Overall the risk of issues even with a primary infection is still overall on the low side so chances are things would be ok anyways but it's definitely scary! 
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  • caden1206caden1206 member
    MrsAngelaMarie said:

    I am glad to see you bring this up! I am not going to watch the video right now, though, since I am currently being screened for the development of a new cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and I don't want to start freaking out again. 


    I am a nurse and was exposed about 6 weeks ago to CMV. A lot of the nurses I work with refuse to take care of patients with CMV (and I admit I had never researched it), but I had been taking care of a particular patient for a week or so before we found out she was CMV positive. I chose to continue to take care of her because building relationships with patients and their families makes me feel good about what I do. Anyways, I unfortunately had an incident in which her stomach contents splashed directly into my eye. I flushed my eyes immediately, and THEN decided to google the dreaded CMV, probably a little too late. I freaked and immediately contacted my OB. 

    Apparently, if you have contracted CMV prior to being pregnant (and a lot of us have and don't even know it!), contracting CMV a second time is MUCH less harmful to a fetus. (There are two blood tests available for CMV - one that tells you if you have had CMV in the past, and one that tells you if you have a recent/new CMV infection. I was keeping my fingers crossed that at some point during my nursing career I had contracted the virus in the past, but I was very disappointed to find out that I had no past immunity to CMV in my blood. CMV has an incubation period of up to 12 weeks, meaning it can take that long for me to become actively infected. Four weeks post exposure, I was negative, but I still need to be screened for the next two months. Fingers crossed. 

    I want to reiterate that CMV is not particularly dangerous to otherwise healthy people (including children) outside the womb. And my story is actually an uncommon way to contract CMV, the most common way is from young children. Young children, especially those who socialize often with other young children, such as in the day care setting, are the most common carriers of CMV. And CMV is spread through body fluids, such as urine and saliva. So anyone who comes into close contact with young children regularly (this includes pregnant mothers with children in day care) should really be careful and take precautions. Lots of hand
    washing! 
    I hope everything turns out ok. Saying a prayer that you and LO are ok.

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  • ColeyCannoliColeyCannoli member
    I'm so sorry for your loss, that video is absolutely heartbreaking. Thank you so much for sharing this so others can be prepared.
    In memory of the baby Hufflepuff and all the angel babies of D14 <3
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  • Jdogs12Jdogs12 member
    I am so sorry for your loss.  At my 18 week A/S they saw an echogenic bowel.  I had already had genetic testing plus Harmony so I was not at all worried about any chromosomal abnormalities.  They took my blood to test for "infections" but didn't want to talk much about it until the results came back.  They sent me home with a pamphlet and full access to google where I learned all about CMV.  I spent a full week horrified and positive that the test was going to come back with not good news.  I have a toddler in daycare, who I kiss and share foods/drinks with regularly, and at my 16 week appt my doctor had mentioned my white blood cell count had been a little high in my 12 week bloodwork.  I had not been sick at the time.  Luckily my test came back with negative results for both a new or recurring infection but in that time I learned so much about CMV and cannot believe that is not something the doctor talks about at your first appointment, especially if you have toddlers, in daycare.  My heart goes out to you, and thank you for bringing awareness.
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