November 17th is Preemie Awareness Day!

The photo above was taken nearly three years ago when our twins were almost 3 years old.  This coming January, they will be turning six.  I remember taking this photo and thinking how quickly the first three years had gone by and now I am amazed at how quickly the next 3 years have flown by.  Looking at them now, it is difficult to believe that our two kindergartners were born 9-1/2 weeks early.

Saturday, November 17th, is Preemie Awareness Day or World Prematurity Day.  With the increasing number of twins and other multiple births, RSV awareness (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) in regards to preemies is of growing importance.  In fact, 13 million babies are born premature around the world each year.  I have to admit that I knew little about RSV Protection until our twins spent 2-1/2 weeks in the NICU and then another 3 weeks in the Special Care Nursery during the months of January and February, which fall into the time labeled as "RSV season."

I had learned from the nurses in the NICU that there is no cure for RSV, which causes up to 10 times more infant deaths than the flu.  That is why we did not mind taking extra precautions to keep our preemies safe.  We always scrubbed and sanitized our hands and forearms thoroughly before going near our twins or anything that they may touch.  When my husband felt like his throat was scratchy, he refrained from visiting the twins in the NICU for 3 or 4 days until he was sure he was not sick.  He did this with their best interest in mind even though he missed them terribly.  Another preventative measure is to not allow anyone to smoke near your baby, which is something we would have done whether the twins were born early or not.

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Being educated about RSV and taking all the necessary precautions were completely worth it.  We have beautiful healthy boy-girl twins who will be turning 6 soon.

To learn more about RSV prevention, visit RSVPrevention.com and talk to your pediatrician.


I wrote this review while participating in a campaign for Mom Central Consulting on behalf of MedImmune and I received a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

Learn More About RSV Protection for Preemies

While I was pregnant with our now nearly 5 year old twins, I thought there could not be anything more stressful than my body growing twice as big and twice a quickly as with my previous pregnancy.  Then at around 29-1/2 weeks along, I was in the hospital on bed rest trying to keep the twins safe inside me for as long as possible.  I was positive that those few days were the most nerve-wracking worrisome ones of my life, since even just one more day in the womb would increase their chances of being born without serious complications.

After the twins were born 9-1/2 weeks early, that was when I knew the true meaning of the word stressful.  They spent 5 weeks in the NICU and a special care nursery.  For those 5 weeks we were worried daily that a complication would arise or that they just would not thrive.  We were so lucky that they did not suffer from any unusual complications and were, according to the doctors, "text-book preemies".  Here they are at just 2 days old . . .

What made the time after the twins were born so stressful was that my husband and I had to be super-careful about bringing anything harmful into the NICU.  We wore coverings over our clothes and scrubbed our hands thoroughly to help prevent Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV, which preemies are especially susceptible to because of their underdeveloped lungs.  There was even a period of several days when my husband could not visit our newborn twins in the NICU because we suspected he may have been coming down with a cold.

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According to RSVProtection.com, the best way to protect your baby from RSV is to wash your hands very thoroughly before touching him or her.  This goes for anyone who will be touching your baby.  In fact, when my own parents came to visit our twins in the NICU, we asked that they please not touch them even though they had taken all the precautions of washing their hands and covering their clothes.  I firmly believe you cannot worry about offending people when it comes to protecting your children.  It is also important to keep your preemie in your smoke-free home and away from crowds, other children, and anyone who may be sick.  Regular cleaning of your baby's clothing, toys, and crib linens is also very important.

To learn more about RSV in infants, visit www.rsvprotection.com.


I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of MedImmune and received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.