Emory turned 9 weeks old today (or two months old on Monday).
He has his two month doctor’s visit today as well. He’s scheduled to have (at least) two vaccinations. But I think we’re going to spread them out. That said, he’ll probably only receive the Pneumococcal today. I think I need to spend a little more time reading about the DTaP. We’re going to give him DTaP, but I need the doctor to answer a few things first. For example, the sanofi pasteur version may contain trace amounts of mercury whereas GlaxoSmithKline does not. I want to make sure our pediatrician has the latter. If they do not, I will order it and pay out of pocket if I need to. We’re armed with questions.
I was looking back at my baby book today to see what vaccines I was given as a baby and when. I received DTaP, polio, and the MMR. That’s it. Three different shots for 7 different illnesses. Now? There are so many more now. Most of them I hadn’t ever heard of before having Emory. (Pneumococcal, for example. Which, contrary to popular belief, has nothing to do with pneumonia [WRONG it does. It protects an infant from getting it] and instead protects an infant from a bunch of different strands of bacteria.)
As I see it one of two things could have happened. (I am admittedly about to tread into an area I know little about but I’m a mother so allow me the speculation.)
1). The added vaccines were created for illnesses/diseases that always existed in which case parents should be given a choice.
2). The added vaccines were created to keep up with illnesses/diseases that changed or grew out of cultural change, population growth, etc., or already existing (morphing) diseases. I mentioned before that I received my MMR (along with a number of boosters) and ended up with the measles two years ago. Does that mean the viruses are changing and the vaccines we once received can no longer combat them? Does that mean adults should continue getting vaccinated as well? And, if that’s the case (which it obviously is as I was vaccinated and it’s no longer valid) don’t we put our children at risk as much as the kid at school whose parents refused the vaccine? How many of you have any idea of your MMR is still valid? The only reason I know is I had a serious amount of blood work run when I wanted to get pregnant. Who’s to say that your elementary school janitor or your babysitter still has a “working” MMR vaccine? Who’s to say your daughter’s vaccine still “works”? Does anyone know what I’m saying? Am I making sense at all? Testing 123 is this thing on?
It’s scary out there, people. And you haven’t heard the end of it from me. I don’t care how many nasty email or comments I receive. YOU WILL NOT SILENCE ME, INTERNET!
Man, what a beautiful baby.
Deep breathes Michele, He’ll be fine.
Meg
he really is beautiful! and you need to relax. not trying to silent you at all, just saying… i think there is such thing as too much worrying ;)
PS: i love how you do that thing around your photos. it makes them look so “plastic”. little “how to” for me? prettyplease… ? :)
Well, that was VERY difficult. We have a baby that never cries. He gets cranky but he never cries. He screamed bloody murder. He cried so hard he stopped crying and no sound came out at all. It was horrible. Truly FUCKING awful. There, I said it. I said the F word. It was horrible. He’s fine now, however. Sleeping soundly.
We only gave him one shot for now. The others are going to wait. Oh, and babies feel pain. Clearly.
I think our parents just loved us less.
I kid. However, I wonder if there is something to how rapidly diseases spread. How accessible every part of the world now is as opposed to the olden days when you were a baby.
shots and blood work are the worst and it just gets crappier as they get older and call for you in all of those tears.
Sigh. I give you major props because I’m not sure I could do what you are doing. I can’t even stand when the cats howl at the vet’s office – I have to resist the urge to PUNCH PEOPLE. I know you know it’s what needs to be done, but man, the not being able to explain to the little guy what’s going on and all they know is it hurts… ugh.
The only saving grace here is that one day he’ll be old enough and I can explain it to him. Hell, we all ended up totally fine, right? The thing that was hard with the cats, specifically Schmitty whenever he was dying, was that I kept thinking, “Oh, one day I’ll be able to explain this to him – apologize for it even.” And then I’d realize that no matter how old or smart a cat becomes, they will never understand English. They’ll never know.
That really hurt to be honest. So, don’t you think that one is easier than the other. Watching anything you love feel pain is brutal. cats, humans, snaked, whatever you fancy.
Funny, Jen, TJ and I are always calling the pediatrician the “vet”. We just have a block with it for some reason.
That kid, he is gorgeous.
I’m horrified of Maggie’s two month visit/vaccines, but it has to be done. I’ve decided that the hardest part of being a Mama is doing what’s best for the kid, no matter how much it hurts me and/or her. I was not prepared for that part.
You are brave.
Well, it doesn’t have to be done that’s the beauty about living in America. We’re given choices on what we do to/with our children. Unless you were referring to your own “has to be done”. :] Then ignore me.
Although, I think you live in a state where it does have to be done in order for her to go to school.
Also, sorry about this post. I wrote it before the doctor’s visit and I was freaking out a bit. I am feeling better now.
I’m not sure about the MMR booster for adults. When I was talking with the babies’ doc, she mentioned that people who have received the chicken pox vax and who have not had the pox need to get boosters every 10 years. She said that the titers from the vax deteriorate over time whereas the people who get the pox from a wild strain shouldn’t need a booster. If I’m going to vax the babies shouldn’t I ensure that I get all my boosters too? Argh! I hate that there isn’t more info about vax.
First: Michele, Toby. You have a beautiful baby boy there. Truly seeing him took my breath away a little.
Second: MMR. it’s a “live” vaccine and there has been some controversy her in the UK about it (which I am reliably informed has been pretty much debunked) The controversy involved an alleged link between MMR shots and autism.
Clara is at 7.5 months now and will get the next round of shots at 9 months. She screamed last time and her eyes (projection or no, you tell me…) told of betrayal and pleading. I don’t mind telling you that while I held her in the doctor’s surgery I wept. Apparently this is not a good thing to do and you are supposed to be strong and reassuring. But her eyes struck my heart. Be thankful that Emory is so stoic and calm!