We have had a rough re-entry to the real world post vacation. The past 2 days have consisted of a long and traffic filled drive home, work deadlines, loads and loads and loads of laundry, general crankiness, and a bout of coxsackie virus. fun right?!
This photo pretty much sums things up... haha!
Its also time that I start figuring out new childcare for Virginia. Our very much loved Nanny is going back to teaching in September :( Virginia has really thrived under her care and has stayed remarkably healthy this past year. We have been so lucky to have the protection of individualized care in our home and thankful that Virginia has had our Nanny's 18 month old daughter as a companion and peer model all year.
We have been pretty conflicted about whether to hire a new Nanny or enroll Virginia in a daycare center. I firmly believe that it would be very beneficial for Virginia to be around other children in a play based environment but the "never trust a preemie" statement is loud and clear in my head right now.
In an ideal world we would have a Nanny that would come to the house and Virginia could be enrolled in a preschool like program a few mornings a week. Unfortunately there are not many such programs in our area for kids under 2 and the costs would get wildly expensive (salary, tuition, extra car, ohh my!)
I hate feeling like I have to choose between the social development of my child and her physical well being. We are leaning toward enrolling her in daycare, knowing that if she cant handle it medically we will have to change course. She has been amazingly healthy this past year (is she stronger/healthier than we think or has she just not been exposed to much?) but the 8 weeks on a ventilator and 124 days in the NICU are just still such a recent memory.
I won't bore you with the details of the other complicated side of things - the fact that we are still on the wait list for all of the local daycares that we would consider sending her to. We are family #32 for the 2 year old room in one of them in fact. lovely...
Experienced preemie moms - any advice?
Ughh...I totally get where you are with childcare. The echoed warnings from the NICU still ring loudly in my ear. We have nanny-shared for the last 3 years and it has been fabulous, both at keeping Isabella healthy and giving her some exposure to other children. As much as I think sometimes she needs more socialization, I am happy that we have waited until this fall to enroll her in a preschool. It has been a tough decision, but we are lucky that we can continue with our nanny 3 days a week and do school 2 days a week. This past year, to help satisfy my desire for her to have more social experiences, we have enrolled her in "music together" classes(love them-are they in your area?)She also goes to the library for story time. Finding a good balance that suits the needs of the whole family helped me to make childcare decisions. Like Virginia, Isabella has been ridiculously healthy and, since I need to work, that has been a blessing...there is nothing worse than the sick childcare scramble!! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your input Rachel! Its all a balance, right? I feel better knowing that whatever I decide doesnt have to be forever. If its not working we will just change course. Music Together is a great idea! We do have a location near us and Ginny has been loving music lately. Ill have to look into their fall courses.
DeleteFirst all, let me admit that our NICU experience cannot even begin to compare to your experience. Our daughter was born 10 weeks early and was in the NICU for 7 weeks, but she was only on the vent for a very short time after her surgery. However, I was a basket-case about daycare decisions. I took 6 months off, but then returned to teaching in November (I know, right in time for cold/flu season). Add to that the fact that we were denied RSV shots that first winter (I finally got an appeal 3 months later!) and I was a wreck. However, she did great in a daycare center and continues to be one of the healthiest kids in the center - she's only missed a few days here and there and has never had anything worst than a cold! Our niece, a full-term healthy 41+ weeker, is the kid who continually gets sick, has recurrent ear infections and catches every bug/cold/virus that goes around - she constantly misses school and has been to the ER numerous times for really high fevers. So I do think part of it is just luck, genetics, etc. We joke that our preemie got all the drama out of the way immediately after birth!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear how well Georgia has done in daycare, especially without synagis that first year! Do you do anything special to help her stay healthy? vitamins? probiotics? special instructions for daycare re: washing hands?
DeleteAmazingly, no!! She's always been good with taking her daily vitamins - we switched to the chewables around 18 months because she refused to take the liquid nastiness anymore. The only things that we **credit** to her kick-butt immune system is that I pumped, pumped, pumped milk for 14 months. It was my obsession during our early NICU days, throughout that first year and especially after I went to work and she was at daycare. I didn't stop pumping until the following summer (I was determined to get us through that first winter). Hopefully she inherited lots of my 10+ year of exposure to every kid germ out there during my teaching days. My husband also likes to joke that all of her weeks on TPN in the NICU gave her super-hero powers!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I like to think that her exposure to germs from other kids/staff at daycare have actually helped her. I almost fell over during week #1 at daycare when I picked her up and the aide in the room gave her a kiss on the cheek. It took all my restraint not to grab a wipe and scrub her cheek. Seeing a virtual stranger's mouth that close to my kid, who I had in a bubble since she came home, almost gave me a heart attack. But, she survived! And no matter how much hand-washing, sanitizing, etc., the other kids constantly had things in their mouth that went right into my kid's mouth! And that's only the interactions that I saw/witnessed myself at pickup and drop-off.
I hope it's a smooth transition for you all! It's never easy!