✨ Bringing Home Baby and Siblings with School Germs

I cannot even begin to explain how anxious I was the last few weeks leading up to the birth of Arianna, 12/20/18. I mean our house just couldn’t seem to catch a break!

As a full time working mom (and 35 weeks pregnant with baby girl no. 4), I was not happy to see a missed call on my cell phone from ~Nurse Rhonda~ – oh yes – 3 kids in elementary school will get you on pretty tight-knit terms with the school nurse.

I quickly went to my voicemails and gave it a ▶️

“Hey Susan, it’s nurse Rhonda. I have Tatiana (No.3) here she’s feeling under the weather and running a slight fever. I’ll keep her here in my office with a cool compress until I hear back from you. Hope you’re feeling ok, bye!”

And there go my butterflies. No, not the baby kicking.. . The how bad is this going to be? Who else is going to catch it!? Who’s going to stay home with her!? When am I going to finish up these financial reports?How the f#%k am I going leave work early again right now when I came in late yesterday after my doctors visit!? The damn it I really can’t afford to get sick right now myself butterflies!

This was BAD! This was Virus Unknown. This was a fever ran so high (105) I was sick to my stomach of worry. Flu tested negative. Strep tested negative. (Given antibiotics anyway- we’ll get into that too in a near-future discussion) This lasted a week!

Brianna then caught a stomach virus. Joe got it too!

I quarantined Liliana. She was safe, not for long though.

10 days before my scheduled C-Section. 2/3 kids test positive for Strep Throat! (Lily and Tati) I really hate resorting to antibiotics. But well, PANDAS – (short for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections) I ran over to CVS!

*A child may be diagnosed with PANDAS when: Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and/or tic disorders suddenly appear following strep or scarlet fever. To learn more about PANDAS click HERE.

I broke down in tears one night. I couldn’t cuddle with my sick kiddies. And the thought of bringing home a newborn to all these germs. Well …

I resorted to Amazon:

Antibacterial Soap Cleanwell – Pack of 4

Hand sanitizer – 4 Pack 8oz Pump Bottles

Hand sanitizer – Pack Travel Size

• Disinfecting Wipes Lysol
• Lysol Disinfectant Spray – 2 Pack

I know it sounds a little excessive, but I was nesting and really so scared.

I stocked up on my essential oils for my diffuser. Which I really love btw!

*Here’s a great essential oil starter pack that I currently have for my office as well. Essential Oils and 2 Pack 300 ml

Any-who, here I was in the hospital the day after Arianna’s arrival and even though the girls were finishing up their antibiotics, which really upset their stomachs (Joe swears he still smells throw up on his shirt even after it’s been washed) and I was still so so anxious.

So I figured I share what we did to prepare for bringing home baby:

We expressed how appreciative we are of the girls and their wanting to help out. On the contrary, we said there would be plenty of time to do so but it is extremely important we be very careful for a little while and we’re going to need them to follow a few rules and we know they can do it because they are amazing!

I highly recommend watching Osmosis Jones as a family. (We did this a few days before the scheduled C-Section) It’s a fun real life & animation movie explaining the importance of eating healthy, how germs spread and what happens inside the body that we cannot see when a virus hits!

Rules to be followed:

• No one is to touch the baby without washing their hands. (Sing happy birthday two times)
• Before dinner shower time has now changed to – as soon as you get home from school shower time. Dirty clothes in the hamper ASAP! (Inside IN! Otherwise they are separating moms and dads clothes on top of their own [girls weekly chore])
• You are to stay away from children that look sick in school. (Coughing, sneezing, runny nose …)
• WASH your hands often while at school.
• If you yourself are feeling slightly under the weather, you are to refrain from touching the baby. (Extra I-Pad time is granted along with favorite “unhealthy” snack) *I find bending the rules prompts honesty*

Luckily the girls are of age to fully comprehend these rules. They are 9, 7 and 6 years old. It doesn’t necessarily mean they were happy about them especially when Lily woke up with a slight cold just 2 weeks later. They want to cuddle with their new little sister … I don’t blame them!

Same goes for baby visitors.

I have a very big family which I am so thankful for and the fact that they are so excited and want to come meet our new addition really brings me so much joy … but it seems that not everyone is too fond of you asking them to wash their hands or use 1 of the 12 bottles of Purell I have in just about every corner of the house. (That I myself use before touching my daughter) *It’s more so the older generation.

I think I was a little young and naive with my other two December babies. I felt almost embarrassed to ask (especially) older family members to wash their hands.

Certainly, that is not the case now. Thinking back, it actually really bothers me that I didn’t make it a point to say something. I think being a first generation born in America-Albanian has a lot to do with it. We were raised with the mentality to put respect for others over our own emotions. I try to instill the respect factor in the girls – but not to the extent that it was drilled in my head tome by my parents and grandparents.

Truth of the matter is .. it’s my baby, my house, my rules. And if you don’t like it, well please just save us both the frustration.

Here’s a link to my Please don’t touch – Safety 1st velcro sign!

P.S. Really helps with strangers in the grocery store too! (Yea, I’m not even going to get into that)