As it is the holiday season, and lots of friends will be visiting my house mates and perhaps myself, I would like to let you all know ahead of time where I'm at with that ;)

First off, I really miss you all and would love to see you. But am currently pretty obsessed and on an ever changing and usually wacky sleep schedule, so for visiting me, a two or three hours of hanging out around the house is my idea of a good time these days. Just mention when you want to visit a day or two ahead of time, I'm around a lot and just need to adjust my pumping/sleeping schedule. (visiting T schedule is harder to adjust because I time visits to be there at his scheduled meals)

But most important, EXPECT ME TO TREAT YOU LIKE YOU HAVE THE PLAGUE IF YOU ARE SICK! ;) If you cough, sneeze, and especially if you cough, sneeze, and touch anything in my vicinity, I will probably turn pale and leave the room as fast as I can, avoiding you and all of your stuff for the remainder of your visit ;)

I am not claiming this to be rational, and it makes me feel bad, since as stated, I really do miss my friends and don't want to be sending the message that I don't want to see you, as its false, but basically I'm just really stressed and on edge and concerned about our baby.

The number one reason that preemies get re-admitted to the hospital is for having been exposed to the common cold.

Their resistance to sickness is much lower than a term newborn for several months after they're brought home, as they are generally a bit developmentally behind babies born on their due date, since they're spending part, or in Tovar's case, all, of their third trimester having to devote energy to things that most babies can spend on growing and the like. The difference becomes negligible by their 2nd year, but it is recommended that they not be exposed to many people during their first 2-4 months home.

As Tovar is already in the hospital, none of you are going to directly expose him at the moment, but if I get sick I will likely expose him. And I happen to know that people are most contagious when first coming down with a cold and unaware of having it, so I will be imagining symptoms for several days after being potentially exposed, with accompanying mixed feelings about whether or not I'm actually being paranoid and should avoid the hospital as well so as not to expose the baby.