Thursday, November 20, 2008

Phillips Phamily House Arrest: Sophomore Year

The great thing about being a sophomore in the "school" of staying home all day everyday and never taking your little one anywhere- is that there is NO junior or senior year!!! This is IT!! That thought occurred to me about 2 days ago. I won't have to do this next year. It will be weird, but wonderful. I just thought I'd give everyone a little info on this year's plan.

I did a post last year about house arrest so I won't re-say all of that stuff. Basically, micro preemies come with lots of different things than the "normal" kid, so we have to do things differently. I know that is hard for most people to understand, but thats OK. Thats why I try to explain this sort of stuff. This year we are staying in not so much because we are afraid Kanyon will get super super super sick (like we were afraid of last year), but because he will STAY sick all season. He has Chronic Lung Disease which makes him susceptible to anything and everything that is out there. Kanyon is likely to catch things that other kids might not even catch, or they might manifest themselves more severely in his body. September prepared us for this because klp was sick 4 different times and each time it got worse and lasted longer. That gave me motivation to stick with this house arrest thing because sick baby all the time is NO FUN! We have been really blessed with a healthy boy that has proven to fight sickness pretty well, so we are very thankful. We just don't want to push it too soon.

Last year's house arrest was a success and we (meaning GOD and maybe my breast milk) kept the boy free from ANY sickness until about 2 days before his 1st birthday and that was just a mild runny nose and a low fever. We are hoping for another successful HEALTHY winter.

The biggest change is that we will be in Dallas 2 days a week for our therapy. That is a lot of exposure to germs, but we don't have a choice. We stay with Kasey in a kid free place and don't go anywhere!! Its a bummer to be so close to great shopping and eating and not be able to enjoy it, but that is OK!!

Thanks to our "church ladies" that keep Kanyon in his own classroom with his very own toys and blankets, etc. We are planning on going to church. We hope to be able to keep this up through the winter, but if things get to "sicky" we may go back to one of us staying home with him. These ladies are so great to do this for us!

Other than that, we are at our house. No eating out, no shopping, no nothing. We are back to having to steer clear of our friends and their children for fear of the germs little ones are ALWAYS carrying. We really do have the BEST friends here who are so understanding and help find ways to get me out of the house every now and then. AND they know I love their kids even though I don't come within a 10 ft. radius of them!!! Haha!!

The biggest thing is HAND WASHING!! My hands have already started to crack...no bleeding yet, but I'm sure that will come. Kory walks in the door from work and goes straight to the sink. We wash them all day long to keep from spreading anything. AND we wash them for at least 30 seconds...60 if we've just come in from somewhere. We are careful about holding other kids and then picking up Kanyon in the same clothes (I know it sounds extreme!). Our Preemie Doctor told us that this time of year, all kids are carrying something even if they don't know it yet, so its best to just stay away for now. No kids come over here and we don't take Kanyon to other kids' houses. He's pretty much friend-less this time of year. We keep our distance from anyone that is even almost sick. Lots of people say its allergies, but there is really no way of knowing that (even Dr's tell us that) and what might just be a clear snot runny nose to one kid, may be something different to us, ya know. We just aren't taking chances. We want to give his body one more season of this to grow and get strong and then we'll RELEASE HIM!! haha!

We obviously will not skip the holidays, but will just have to be very careful..annoyingly careful. We have wonderful families that are so patient with us as we try to keep K healthy.

We do have some safe places that keep us sane. We will go to healthy homes with no kids (or just tiny ones that sleep and can't move on their own!). If you see us with people don't think we're avoiding you because we don't like you, we're probably with these people because they don't have kids and you do!!! Or they don't have a runny nose and you have been sneezing and I noticed even though you didn't know it. :)

This year is already proving to be a little more challenging because klp is now mobile and active. He puts everything in his mouth and he touches EVERYTHING. Last year we didn't have to worry about him touching things. He wasn't really even chewing on his hands yet. All of that has changed so we are having to do things like wash HIS hands! Its crazy!

This will last through March, so it will be a long haul, but we're really OK with it. In fact, there is something to say for staying home and not running ourselves all over the place. His birthday comes at a great time (March 26) for marking the end of the cold season!

The question that keeps popping into my mind is "How will I ever go back to seeing the world like I did before I was paranoid about germs??!!" That is a post in itself, its amazing the things to realize are nasty and germy!


Here is my little house arrest buddy last year. Bald and cross-eyed and very very sweet.

Here we are this year! unpredicatble hair, straight eyes, and still very very sweet.


As of November we are in this thing full swing......Bring on the dry, cracked, bloody hands!!! Happy Weekend! I'm off to refill all of my GermX bottles!!

12 comments:

erin f. said...

Wow, it is amazing how much he has changed in a year...I do not envy your house arrest time, but I think you are definitely doing the right thing staying in. Sick kids are definitely no fun (I have had one with throw up/fever problems all week, yuck). I just hope and pray that it is successful and that this time seems like a tiny speck in the scheme of things on down the road. You are amazing parents, I know people tell you that all the time, but it's true. Love ya!

Jodi said...

All I can say is you guys are UNBELIEVEABLE parents!!! :)

I just hope your fabulous attitude about everything rubs off on me even more. :)

Ok, gotta go take care of my sick kid. This is round 2 in just two weeks. Makes me wish (a teensy tiny bit) that I never took her anywhere!! :)

Anonymous said...

While we haven't had to be under as an extreme house arrest as you guys, we were definitely there last year right after preemie Jude was born. The doctors and nurses in the NICU put the fear into us about taking him out anywhere. Luckily, this year, the pediatrician said we don't have to be so cautious (he was only 7 weeks early). However, he has already had a couple of stomach bugs and colds, and I am already tired of having a sick little one. So I am semi-seriously contemplating house arrest again! :)

I know it must be tiring at times, but you are doing such a wonderful thing for your precious little one by working so hard to keep him healthy!

The Speck family said...

Kanyon is such a cutie and I'm sure you guys know how to have tons of fun together while cooped up at home together.....we will be joining you on your venture and thinking about you often! I didn't realize that you guys had a CLD diagnosis as well...once again, B & K have so many similarities it just amazes me. We are starting feeding therapy soon, so I am interested to see how that goes and will probably be calling you, ready to pull my hair out. He is not doing any liquids by mouth right now and wants NOTHING to do with a bottle, so I think the plan is to try to teach an open cup because that is supposedly the easiest way to "manage" the fluids. I'm rambling, so I will just email you :). Hugs to you all and I am sooooo happy that you got to have so much travel and fun with friends~ MUCH deserved!!!!! Hugs, Kelly S.

Liis said...

HAve a nice house arrest!
I wish you the best!

Liis

Kelli said...

Kanyon has grown so much in the past year! He is such a cutie! I really admire your attitude about the house arrest thing. You guys are amazing parents! Have a great week!

Hilary said...

I really hope that this years house arrest will go by quickly for you..all of you!! Kanyon is such an amazing little guy who has grow and changed so much!! Hang in there and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

The McCarter Family said...

Sounds like you need some house arrest after your busy month (I'm behind on blog reading, so I just read your latest 2 posts). Hang in there....March will be here before you know it! What a selfless act you are doing for your child! I admire your determination soo much!

amy said...

Hi Jaymie! I completely understand "house arrest!" My twins were born September 4 (at 30 weeks) and my goodness- I definitely have bloody cracked hands (yuck!)... but... they were even worse when the girls were in the NICU! IT's worth it of course to keep my girls healthy, but it's hard! :)
Amy (Bromley) Owen

annalee said...

You guys are caring for Kanyon just in the ways he needs most. Keep it up great parents! Love you and your sweet family!

Kyla said...

I just got finished having my "catch up on Jaymie's blog session." I'll admit, I'm addicted to knowing what's going on with y'all. :) I will be praying that your house arrest time is successful again this year and Kanyon doesn't get sick. I hope that his fever this past week didn't turn into anything yucky. -I'm so glad that Kory was such a hero and let you get some play time in before you are stuck at home. What a great husband. :) Tell Kanyon that Ava will miss him until she can see him again in the spring! :)

Mommahen said...

Hi! I am a friend of Sarah Floyd's, and have been praying for your little guy since his birth. We suffer from extremely dry skin. Eczema is an understatement. Germs are hard for us period. In the first year of school my son contracted impetigo 6 times AND MRSA twice. He was on antibiotics from February until May. We can't keep him completely covered all of the time so it makes it hard.Plus, he is a psychological scratcher and scratches when he's upset, stressed, or nervous. Thus introducing MORE germs to his already weakened immune system. He's basically an open sore ready to catch all sorts of germs. It was much easier to manage when we could limit his interactions with other people. And I do not look forward to winter when his skin dries out more. But if you can use Aquarphor or Eucerin (in the jar) for your hands it does make a difference. It's kind of greasy at first, but it sure calms cracked skin. It may take some time, but it is the only thing safe enough and effective enough to help us. Eczema isn't the same, as all the complexities of a micro preemie, but you're doing the best thing for your little guy and your family. Praying your house arrest goes quickly.

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