Ryan and Jodi's Guide to Staying Healthy and Surviving RSV Season

Well, it's been almost 6 months since we took Olivia home from the hospital. During that time, we had one of the worse cold/flu/RSV seasons in a long time. All three of us have remained healthy. Now, we had a lot of things working in our favor: 1) I am a stay at home mom. 2) Ryan's employer allowed him to work from home when needed. 3) Olivia doesn't have any older siblings. I do feel, however, that we were very vigilant and cautious with everything and that has kept us all healthy and somewhat sane. I was told numerous times to not be surprised if Olivia was hospitalized again after coming home. I waited so long for my baby to be home. . .I was NOT going to have her in the hospital again. I attribute our healthiness (and sanity) to these 10 things.


1) Start a blog. I will be forever grateful to Stacie for the idea of this blog. After Logan and Olivia were born, starting a blog was the last thing on my mind. It has been so therapeutic to me, however, and has let me feel connected to the outside world. Without it, I think many people would assume that I dropped off the face of the earth.

2) Become a homebody. Ryan and I are naturally homebodies so that has helped us. Without a love of being at home, I think I would have gone crazy.

3) Become a soap connoisseur. Because I literally wash my hands hundreds of times a week, it's nice to have a variety. Wash or Purell your hands before touching your baby. . .even if you have just washed them. Also, make sure you have a lot of lotion on hand for the cracks and bleeds that will occur with constant hand washing.

4) Stockpile Lysol wipes and Purell. We used (and continue to use) both of them all of the time. When given a free moment, just go around the house and lysol doorknobs, light switches and other germ magnets. You will never catch us without Purell on hand.

5) Never touch your face. Since high school, I have had a bad habit of biting and picking my lip. Every New Years, that is always at the top of my resolutions and every year, I break it. I'm proud to say that I've kicked the habit as I wouldn't dream of constantly doing it anymore.

6) Become Zest-fully clean. Or, Tone-fully clean as I like to call it. Every time Ryan and I went somewhere or cleaned the guinea pigs and rat cages, we would take a shower.

7) Keep tabs on who is sick and who is healthy. Never expose yourself to sick people or to others who have recently been around them.

8) Go on-line shopping. It's not worth the risk to get out and expose yourself to things unneccesarily. Plus, there's nothing more exciting than getting a package delivered to your house. Believe me, you need the excitement some days.

9) Post a sign on your door and one on your carseat. Sometimes people don't always remember to wash their hands upon arriving at your house. People also like to reach in and touch your baby without thinking. There are cute little signs from My Tiny Hands that you can put on your baby's car seat. It's hard to always remind people, so make sure something is posted.

10) Be constantly aware of everything around you. Let me tell you, this gets old over time. It's important, however, to never think "that will probably be okay." Know who is around you, who is sick, etc. Never let your guard down.

We are now beginning to let our guard down quite a bit. I don't take a shower after every grocery store visit. I even went to Target yesterday with Olivia. I still ask, however, that everyone remain cautious around Olivia. I know that some of these seem a little extreme, but Olivia made it through RSV season happy and healthy and that's all that matters.