How far along? 15 weeks
Monday, January 30, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
Vaccination Nation
How far along? 2 3/4 months
Now I have to admit that I am not all that informed when it comes to the topic of vaccinations. I know that I got them, that they are recommended by Health Canada and that there are some accusations that vaccines cause other ill effects such as autism. That theory has been disproven...so they say. I'm sure there are a lot of conspiracy theories about the government and vaccinations but I don't know them. All I know is that when your baby turns 2 months old it is time for them to get their first round of vaccinations should you choose to do so.
Simon and I decided to have Vaela vaccinated. We just couldn't bear the thought of being responsible if she did contract a serious illness or disease that we could have prevented. That's part of the push to vaccinate your child..."if your child gets one of these diseases, the risks of the disease are far greater than the risk of a serious reaction to the immunization." Assuming that is the only issue around the big "V". The big decision for us was whether to give her the new publicly funded vaccine for Rotavirus. Vaela was on the cusp in terms of age and when the vaccine was made available. Technically she should have gotten her shots in December but the rotavirus v was not available (for free) until January. If we decided to give that shot to her we wanted to have it administered at the same time as the first set...since we learned that the first round is all of 3 needles...poor kid. Get it done all at once. As a doctor we visited said "the experience is really quite traumatic...for the parents." We were happy to have an excuse to drag our feet on subjecting our little one to those nasty needles.
The scary thing about the Rotavirus V is that it is a live vaccine. I'm sure it's nothing to be worried about but it freaks me right out. Apparently Rotavirus causes extreme dehydration and has been hospitalizing many young kids...so much so that the government decided to publicly fund the vaccine. We decided to give her the vaccine and made an appointment at our public health clinic.
I dreaded the day. I just hated the idea of causing Vaela any pain. Fortunately, I learned that the vaccine for Rotavirus is actually administered orally...phew...one less needle. But my relief was replaced with fear and anxiety when I was told by the nurse that the possible side effects are severe diarhea and vomiting, and intestinal blockage which may require surgery to remedy. Holy sh--! I very nearly backed out. Yes, the statistics say only 1-2 in 100,000 will have this reaction but still that is very scary. Surgery?! I pray- please be okay, please be okay
So we go ahead and I gotta say this live vaccine thing is freaking me out. And to add to the freaky...the nurse didn't know it was a live vaccine...I had mentioned it when she was reading me the info on Rotavirus and she said, "no, none of the vaccines are live"- then she read the package the big V comes in and exclaimed, "oh! it is a live vaccine." I thought of this later as she was feeding the apparently sweet liquid to Vaela via syringe and I am mopping it off of her chin as some "escapes" her lips I should really wash my hands after this, right? I ask thinking of all the little virus molecules swimming around and now on my hands. "yah, you could", she replies "I probably would, but I'm a bit of a clean freak". CLEAN FREAK! Is that the only reason you would wash this stuff from your hands? I'm thinking...does she not recommend to people to wash? How many people are leaving here with live Rotavirus on their hands spreading it around!? Now maybe I'm naive and you can't get sick from it like that but I don't know! It's making me paranoid.
On to the needles. Oh, I've been looking forward to this (I know...my sarcastic tone is lost in script). I am keeping calm and doing my best to not anticipate a bad reaction from Vaela...you never know...maybe I'll luck out and she'll be one of those kids that barely notice 3 needles being jabbed into her legs and liquid being forced into her limbs. I am instructed on how to hold Vaela so she doesn't flail around. You can do this, Marie. The first 2 needles are administered and Vaela wails. I try to comfort her but the nurse tells me we should just do the next side quickly. I reposition my wailing, red faced, tear streaming down the face baby for the last needle. Vaela seems like she's saying to me telepathically "why are you doing this to me?" I say as much to the nurse. I try to rationalize and say but she probably isn't connecting that it's me that made her go through this and the nurse says "oh, they are pretty smart"...thanks, you're supposed to be making me feel better. And it is at this point where I say do moms cry? because I'm pretty sure I'm going to. Before she can answer the tears are falling. I feel so upset that my baby is hurting and that I have done this to her. The nurse says in a very rehearsed tone "you are doing her a service". Ya, it sure seems like it right now (I'm sure I don't need to tell you again but just in case- that was sarcasm again).
We leave the room of dread and despair and I nurse Vaela to comfort her and she finally calms down, though I notice her cheek is getting really red. Oh, crap...is she having a reaction? So far I'm not going to freak out because it could be the way her cheek was resting when she was nursing. I decide to stay longer than the recommended 15 minutes just to be sure. Her cheek gets redder, just the one, and I bring it to the attention of one of the nurses. She is without fever so the nurse thought she was okay but recommended we stay a bit longer to be sure. After another 10 minutes the nurse checked her again and we both felt pretty confident she was okay. The nurse recommended giving her some baby tylenol when we got home for any possible fever or soreness. Man this sucks. And just think...we get to do this again in another 2 months! (yes, you guessed it- sarcasm).
Now I have to admit that I am not all that informed when it comes to the topic of vaccinations. I know that I got them, that they are recommended by Health Canada and that there are some accusations that vaccines cause other ill effects such as autism. That theory has been disproven...so they say. I'm sure there are a lot of conspiracy theories about the government and vaccinations but I don't know them. All I know is that when your baby turns 2 months old it is time for them to get their first round of vaccinations should you choose to do so.
Simon and I decided to have Vaela vaccinated. We just couldn't bear the thought of being responsible if she did contract a serious illness or disease that we could have prevented. That's part of the push to vaccinate your child..."if your child gets one of these diseases, the risks of the disease are far greater than the risk of a serious reaction to the immunization." Assuming that is the only issue around the big "V". The big decision for us was whether to give her the new publicly funded vaccine for Rotavirus. Vaela was on the cusp in terms of age and when the vaccine was made available. Technically she should have gotten her shots in December but the rotavirus v was not available (for free) until January. If we decided to give that shot to her we wanted to have it administered at the same time as the first set...since we learned that the first round is all of 3 needles...poor kid. Get it done all at once. As a doctor we visited said "the experience is really quite traumatic...for the parents." We were happy to have an excuse to drag our feet on subjecting our little one to those nasty needles.
The scary thing about the Rotavirus V is that it is a live vaccine. I'm sure it's nothing to be worried about but it freaks me right out. Apparently Rotavirus causes extreme dehydration and has been hospitalizing many young kids...so much so that the government decided to publicly fund the vaccine. We decided to give her the vaccine and made an appointment at our public health clinic.
I dreaded the day. I just hated the idea of causing Vaela any pain. Fortunately, I learned that the vaccine for Rotavirus is actually administered orally...phew...one less needle. But my relief was replaced with fear and anxiety when I was told by the nurse that the possible side effects are severe diarhea and vomiting, and intestinal blockage which may require surgery to remedy. Holy sh--! I very nearly backed out. Yes, the statistics say only 1-2 in 100,000 will have this reaction but still that is very scary. Surgery?! I pray- please be okay, please be okay
So we go ahead and I gotta say this live vaccine thing is freaking me out. And to add to the freaky...the nurse didn't know it was a live vaccine...I had mentioned it when she was reading me the info on Rotavirus and she said, "no, none of the vaccines are live"- then she read the package the big V comes in and exclaimed, "oh! it is a live vaccine." I thought of this later as she was feeding the apparently sweet liquid to Vaela via syringe and I am mopping it off of her chin as some "escapes" her lips I should really wash my hands after this, right? I ask thinking of all the little virus molecules swimming around and now on my hands. "yah, you could", she replies "I probably would, but I'm a bit of a clean freak". CLEAN FREAK! Is that the only reason you would wash this stuff from your hands? I'm thinking...does she not recommend to people to wash? How many people are leaving here with live Rotavirus on their hands spreading it around!? Now maybe I'm naive and you can't get sick from it like that but I don't know! It's making me paranoid.
On to the needles. Oh, I've been looking forward to this (I know...my sarcastic tone is lost in script). I am keeping calm and doing my best to not anticipate a bad reaction from Vaela...you never know...maybe I'll luck out and she'll be one of those kids that barely notice 3 needles being jabbed into her legs and liquid being forced into her limbs. I am instructed on how to hold Vaela so she doesn't flail around. You can do this, Marie. The first 2 needles are administered and Vaela wails. I try to comfort her but the nurse tells me we should just do the next side quickly. I reposition my wailing, red faced, tear streaming down the face baby for the last needle. Vaela seems like she's saying to me telepathically "why are you doing this to me?" I say as much to the nurse. I try to rationalize and say but she probably isn't connecting that it's me that made her go through this and the nurse says "oh, they are pretty smart"...thanks, you're supposed to be making me feel better. And it is at this point where I say do moms cry? because I'm pretty sure I'm going to. Before she can answer the tears are falling. I feel so upset that my baby is hurting and that I have done this to her. The nurse says in a very rehearsed tone "you are doing her a service". Ya, it sure seems like it right now (I'm sure I don't need to tell you again but just in case- that was sarcasm again).
We leave the room of dread and despair and I nurse Vaela to comfort her and she finally calms down, though I notice her cheek is getting really red. Oh, crap...is she having a reaction? So far I'm not going to freak out because it could be the way her cheek was resting when she was nursing. I decide to stay longer than the recommended 15 minutes just to be sure. Her cheek gets redder, just the one, and I bring it to the attention of one of the nurses. She is without fever so the nurse thought she was okay but recommended we stay a bit longer to be sure. After another 10 minutes the nurse checked her again and we both felt pretty confident she was okay. The nurse recommended giving her some baby tylenol when we got home for any possible fever or soreness. Man this sucks. And just think...we get to do this again in another 2 months! (yes, you guessed it- sarcasm).
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Balloon Mobile
Isn't Daddy crafty?!
How far along? 11 weeks
We have been in need of a mobile in Vaela's room for a while and we saw one that we kinda liked that had hot air balloons in a sort of primitive design with an uber expensive price tag we were just unwilling to pay. Then we found this mobile for photos and decided to combine that with the hot air balloon idea. It was Simon who figured out how to make origami balloons and attached origami baskets. I really can't take credit for anything other than helping choose the papers.
How far along? 11 weeks
We have been in need of a mobile in Vaela's room for a while and we saw one that we kinda liked that had hot air balloons in a sort of primitive design with an uber expensive price tag we were just unwilling to pay. Then we found this mobile for photos and decided to combine that with the hot air balloon idea. It was Simon who figured out how to make origami balloons and attached origami baskets. I really can't take credit for anything other than helping choose the papers.
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