*This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with MedImmune and Latina Bloggers Connect. However, all opinions expressed are my own. This past week, both of my boys were sick at the same time. My younger son suffers from asthma and allergies and often gets bronchitis during the winter months. On the other hand, my older son's asthma is moderate but he managed to pick up a bug at school and got sick with a throat infection. As a mother, it is extremely frustrating to know that my sons are not feeling well and to not be able to make them feel better right away. It was all I could do to stifle tears as the doctor described to me how sick they were. One of the best ways to protect our children is to educate ourselves on the dangers that exist that could potentially pose a threat to their health. By arming ourselves with knowledge, we can make sure that we take every possible precaution to keep them from getting sick. Unfortunately, Hispanic babies have an increased … [Read more...]
World Prematurity Day Is November 17th! #RSVAwareness #MC #Sponsored
I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for MedImmune. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating. When I was growing up, I can still remember the story that my grandmother used to tell about when my aunt was born. She would say that when my aunt was born, she was so small that you could literally hold her in the palm of your hand. You see, my aunt was born prematurely in the early 1960s when my grandmother was just five months pregnant. The odds were certainly against her being born so early and surviving. Grandma said the priest came to her hospital room to baptize the baby because they did not know whether she would live or not. Since she hadn't chosen a name for the baby, she asked the priest what church he was from and he said "Santa Maria." The rest is history. My aunt was baptized with the name Maria and she defied all odds by not only surviving but thriving. Babies born prematurely often have health … [Read more...]
Know The Facts About RSV! #RSVAwareness #Ad
This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with Latina Bloggers Connect and MedImmune. All opinions are 100% mine. Becoming a parent for should be a joyous and exciting time for all couples. There are so many new things to experience including seeing and holding your baby for the first time. I can still remember how I was overcome with emotions as I spent time with my new babies and planned their first trip home from the hospital. The parents or premature babies or babies born with health conditions are not as lucky and often have to deal with complications that impede them from bringing their babies home right away. In the days leading up to November 17—World Prematurity Day—the focus will be to educate parents of premature babies so they will be prepared to protect their babies from potentially dangerous illnesses. Every year, I consider it my personal responsibility to help raise awareness about World Prematurity Day. Not only do I have many friends … [Read more...]
Protecting Students From RSV #RSVProtection
Nine years ago, our family was directly affected by RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) when our older son contracted it at six months of age. Luckily, the doctor in the emergency room immediately diagnosed him and he was put on a treatment plan to get him better. We were also very fortunate that he got sick as an older baby as it is more dangerous to younger babies or babies born prematurely. When our son was diagnosed with RSV, it was a very scary time for us. Although we had heard about how dangerous RSV is to infants, we were not fully aware of its effects. Our son became very sick from it and had trouble breathing due to all of the congestion and mucus that he had. It was very frustrating, as a parent, to not be able to immediately make him better. Thankfully, he eventually did get better but I think that not being fully educated about RSV made it an even scarier experience for all of us. The RSV season runs from November through March and it is important that … [Read more...]
Raising Preemie Awareness on World Prematurity Day! #ProtectPreemies #RSV
My nine year old son gave us quite a scare when he was six months old. He got sick and, fairly quickly, it started to affect his breathing so we immediately brought him to the emergency room. After treating him with asthma medications, he was sent home with instructions to give him treatments on the nebulizer daily to ease his breathing. While he had been in the hospital, they took a swab culture of the mucus in his nose and told us they would contact us in a few days with the results. A couple of days later, our Pediatrician called us and he told us that our son had tested positive for RSV. I had heard this term before on television and knew it was a respiratory disease that was extremely dangerous to premature babies. Little did I know that it could be dangerous to all babies under a year old and that it could potentially be lethal to preemies. We were lucky because our boy was old enough and strong enough to recover from it quickly. Unfortunately, premature … [Read more...]