Visitor Guidelines

I know that many of you are anxious to see us....okay, I know it's really Hannah that everyone is clamoring to see.

We had our first pediatrician appointment today, and in conjunction with that visit and our discharge "teaching" at the hospital, we have some guidelines for those of you who want to come and see our bundle of joy.

First, although Jon and I never wanted to be "those parents" who require hand-washing and sanitizing lotion before letting people hold our baby, we're required by our doctors to be "those parents." Hannah's immune system is still very weak, so everyone is going to need to wash up before touching her. Typically babies get most of their immunities from mom during the 9th month of pregnancy. Today would have marked the start of week 36 of my pregnancy, so Hannah is having to develop the immunities the hard way (through my milk and her own growth). As a result, we will have to be a little more protective about germs, since her immune system won't be able to fight things off like a full term baby.

Next, in conjunction with Hannah's immune system, we're going to ask anyone who is sick or lives with someone who is sick (or has been sick within the past 72 hours) to refrain from visiting. We realize that this makes planning difficult, especially if you get sick at the last minute. It's not that we don't want to see you, but we don't want Hannah to get sick. Particularly in the winter (defined as October through April), preemies are at risk for RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), a respiratory disease that is similar to the common cold (see http://www.rsvinfo.com/ for more details). RSV is spread through physical contact, through the air via a cough or sneeze, on clothing and surfaces, or picked up via touching an infected object. Since it can live as long as 6 hours on your hands and up to 12 hours on surfaces, it is difficult to prevent exposure. RSV to a normal child is just another cold (and almost all children get it at some point), but to a preemie it can be deadly -- it often requires hospitalization for some of the side effects (mainly lung-related). Hannah's lungs are not yet fully developed and will continue to develop over the coming months, and although we helped the process along with the steroids that I got at 25 weeks, they are still immature (to see the difference between preemie lungs and a full-term baby lungs, see www.preemiecare.org/LungsTrees03-4.pdf.)

Finally, in addition to her immature lungs, Hannah has sensitive skin (like all preemies). We're asking that for the time being visitors don't wear a lot of perfume or cologne or use scented lotions around Hannah. Not only could those things make it harder for her to breathe, but they could irritate her skin.

We ask that all visitors do the following:

• Please call to arrange a time to visit. We need to limit the number of visitors that we have at one time and on the same day. We also ask that you limit the length of your visit to no more than one hour.


• Please do not visit us if you are currently sick, live with someone who is sick, have been in contact with someone who is sick, and/or have not been symptom-free for at least 72 hours. ("Sick" includes coughing, sniffles, diarrhea, runny nose, fever, etc. - not including allergy-related symptoms.)


• When you arrive at our house, we're going to ask that you wash your hands (and use hand sanitizer as necessary).


• Please do not bring babies or toddlers (or other young children) to our house without checking with us first. Kids can present some of the biggest risks for colds/RSV/flu.


• Please do not wear heavy perfume, cologne, or scented lotions when you're coming to visit, and if you smoke, please change your clothes and refrain from smoking before coming to our house.

Thanks in advance for helping us keep Hannah illness-free. Our pediatrician told us today that he typically doesn't trust the immune system of a full-term baby for two months. Since Hannah was early, he won't trust hers for 4-5 months...and as a result is planning on keeping us home-bound for the next 4 months or so, unless Hannah "proves herself" in the meantime.

Please understand these guidelines are not meant to offend anyone, just simply to provide an explanation. We hope you understand, and we appreciate your help keeping our little girl safe.

Thanks in advance!!