Contagious BEWARE
On Saturday we visited my Aunt and cousin while we were in Utah. One of my Aunt’s grandkids is 12 days older than Eden and she was sick. We didn’t know this before we got there and weren’t informed until after we had been there for a little. She and Eden had already shared some toys and plenty of slobber. I suppose we could have left once we knew she was sick, but the damage had been done so we stayed.
Now neither Eden or Lilah was eating well on Saturday and neither have eaten well since being home. Eden threw up what she had nursed on Monday morning, and was eating lightly that day. Tuesday they both we’re not their complete selves but okay. That night Eden threw up around 1:30 am and Wednesday both her and Lilah were little zombies and cuddle bugs. They both were sleeping but at different intervals and when awake they mostly just wanted to be held or lying down. Today, Thursday, they both seemed to be doing better. Eden slept in a little after I nursed her and Lilah even ate breakfast after I warned that I was going to eat the cheerios if she didn’t. Eden ate a little applesauce later in the morning which was also a big improvement. So I thought everything was looking up and that my girls were getting out of the clearing. Wrong. Eden I think is doing better, but Lilah is not. I had her go to the bathroom before her nap and while on the toilet she started to complain of her belly hurting and she wanted me to hold it. I was okay with this. After we got her pull-ups on she was more antsy and she wanted me to hold her to wash her hands, instead of standing on a stool that is next to the toilet, I thought this very odd, and I had her go lay down aafter I washed her hands. Right after I finished drying my hands I thought she’s probably going to throw up and I came into the room just in time to see her throw up onto her bed. So now I have one on the mend and the other sick. It’s just upsetting to me because this could have been prevented had we been warned. We may not have visited, but I would possibly have two healthy girls instead of two sick ones. I suppose it upsets me more because this is the first throwing up sickness Eden has had since she was really little, so I don’t like it.
I don’t mean to offendthis is to everyone: If you have a sick child tell others who are going to visit so they can make the decision to expose their child or not. Some people think hey, the more the child is exposed the better their immune system, but I’m not completely convinced. Viruses change and mutate themselves, so why should I be okay with my child getting sick if they don’t have to when they might get sick again by the same virus. I’m okay with two healthy babies sharing germs and toys, but when one is sick and her mother was throwing up, please tell me. We try to take precautions to not needlessly get other peoples children sick, so please be considerate and do the same for our children. One of us stays home with the sick child even if they’re on the mend when Sunday comes around so not to expose other’s children. I know there are circumstances when the sick child has to be at church and they only have a runny nose, or the parents can’t leave them home.
I don’t like the sharing of germs, so please let me know so I don’t have to worry each time I see you that you’re child might be sick and you may not be telling me. I find it offensive that you’re not thinking of other children’s health when you share the harmless virus. I find it very harmful to my child when they are throwing up and sick. Now, they may not have caught this from my cousin’s child, but I’m pretty positive they did. I love my Aunt, but please tell me when they’re sick because I don’t like sharing viruses. I do believe she didn’t mean to purposely not tell us and that it mostly slipped her mind because the grandchild was not continuously showing symptoms, and it was only when she stared coughing later that we were aware and they told us of the virus that the mother had had and the child. If she did know and didn’t care, then I find it very offensive.
July 13th, 2006 at 5:56 pm
Hey, I completely agree. And I don’t think anyone should be offended because it’s obviously inconsidereate of THEM, not you.
Up here in snow country there is an illness that is highly contagious, and can be deadly to little babies. It is called RSV, or bronciolitis. This is different from broncitits, and actually acts a little like pnemonia. RSV season is from early November thru late February, and the symptoms have an incubation period of something like 1-2 weeks. A lot of people up here don’t take their newborns to church during this time because it can be deadly to them.
The point of this is, in January of this year, Matthew picked up RSV at church. It was his 1st week in nursery. The symptoms didn’t show until the next Sunday, and they started small. Nick stayed home with him since he had a small fever (we’re pretty vigilant), but we had already spent the day before with Nick’s brother whose 3rd son was only 5 and a half months at the time. I took Matthew to the ER the next evening (Mon), and he was completely limp…he just wasn’t getting enough air to his inflamed lungs. Luckily, he didn’t have to stay in the hospital overnight, but he did have to get a machine that blew albuterol into his nose, and use it every night for 6 weeks. He was extremely sick for about a week and a half, but even after 4 weeks he was still coughing a lot. During this time, we missed out on family parties, date nights, ward functions, I couldn’t even go grocery shopping with him. Unfortunately, our nephew did get RSV also, and he got it a little worse. They weren’t quite as stringent, and so they passed it on to our new little neice when she was only a few weeks old. We hadn’t even seen her yet, and didn’t even try to see her until all of Matthew’s contagiosness was gone, even though she already had it. All of us ended up with this sickness eventually, but in kids over three, it’s usually just like the flu, and with adults it’s more like a cold.
Anyway, I don’t get why people don’t just stay home from church with their sick kids. No calling is important enough to start an epidemic in the ward. (3 other kids that we know of also got RSV from that 1st week in nursery) Especially in a ward like ours where babies under three outnumber adults and kids 2 to 1. Of course it wasn’t fun for us to be hermits for 2 months, but we did it!
Ok, I have one more QUICK story…when Ethan was 4 months old my sis-in-law brought over her 2 yr old who was contagious with chicken pox! Then she was offended when I hid out with Ethan in the bedroom all night. Her words, “He’s gonna get it sooner or later anyway, so what’s the big deal”. I guess she hadn’t heard of the chicken pox vaccine! By the way,none of my kids have ever had the illness, no thanks to her! ๐