Reply To: Childbirth

[worriedmom123]

Hi Terri. I sadly have so much anxiety parenting with hsv2. Therapy helps but my worries are still there. I’m so careful around my kids but I am afraid if I got a lesion on my hip or thigh without realizing my kids could come into contact with it (they are little and we cuddle and sleep together all the time).
-Have you ever heard of a parent inadvertently giving their child hsv through casual contact?
-Are herpes lesions on the thicker skin of the hip or thigh easy to identify? (I have only had them on my genitals). What are the chances I’d have an outbreak someplace besides my genitals after having it for 14 years?
-A few times on my hip I have gotten a small round red bump that doesn’t itch or hurt and eventually goes away. It has come back in the same spot a couple of times. Does this sound herpetic at all?
-I also worry about my husband who is not nearly as careful as me. What if he touched his genitals in the bathroom, didn’t wash his hands very well then touched my kids? Or what if he touched a hand towel and then my kids used the hand towel on an area with open skin?
-I also have paranoia about giving myself whitlow. Should I take this off my worry list?
-If I experience prodromal symptoms, how long should I wait to have sex with my husband? I get paranoid that we are going to spread herpes to different parts of our body during intercourse. I also worry about him somehow getting whitlow
-I have a lot of shame attached to my herpes diagnosis. Sometimes I feel bad for me kids that they have parents with hsv, or I am putting them in some sort of danger. Is this an unneccesary way of thinking?
-The other day my labia was sensitive to touch so I thought maybe an outbreak was coming on. I could not see anything but felt a hard bump where my skin was sensitive. Does that sound herpetic?
-I suffer from allodynia on different parts of body. Touch is unpleasant. Is it a paranoid though to think it is caused by herpes, even if the sensation is on my arm?
thank you!