Vaccinations, Round One

Good news for mom and dad, Liam continues giving us more sleep and hasn't been putting up any fuss once he's in his bassinet and we turn off the lights. He went to sleep around midnight again, then got woken up by the cats at 1am (who were probably worked up after Michael had the laser pointer out before bed). I rocked the pack n play a little, and Liam went right back to sleep. I strongly considered evicting the kitties, but then one jumped on the bed and laid by my feet. They stayed quiet from that point on. When I next woke up and looked at the time it was 8am! Liam appeared to had recently woken up and was just quietly playing in his bed. Such a nice boy!

We arrived at the health center, it was actually more of a regular doctor's office (not the kind of public health clinic I was thinking of). Everyone there was really nice (even another patient), so I felt comfortable. Giving your child the first big round of vaccinations can be scary enough! It took a little while to get us into the system, but Liam was the first patient in the pediatric area of the day. They did weigh and measure him again. His last "stats" were taken 17 days ago on January 5. Today, he was up by a pound and was weighing in just under the 14 pound mark. He is now definitely 25 inches long (Michael did notice they were very generous with his measurement before!), and his head circumference is now 16 inches.

Today Liam received two shots, and liquid drops. The first shot was Prevnar, and is intended to protect against pneumococcal. He also got another combination vaccine called Pentacel, which as the name suggests is intended to help protect against 5 different diseases (diptheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, and haemophilus influenzae type b). The drops were for rotovirus, which is a nasty gastrointestinal bug that hospitalizes many kids each year (or at least it used to...I was one of them). Unless you are another new mom researching these diseases, you might not of heard of a few of them. I definitely encourage you to look it up if you are interested in learning more.

I came to see why they created combination vaccines. Poor Liam hated being stuck. He screamed for about 30-60 seconds each time, but then was fine after that. I cannot imagine if we had to do several separate shots. The drops just made him cough a little and make a funny face. I nursed him before and afterward. Our appointment cost us only $35, so we'll be going there for our next well-baby visit and plan to return to our regular pediatrician once our insurance situation changes (they both are aware of this).

Liam got a good nap in after his appointment. When he first woke up and I changed his diaper, he definitely seemed more mad than usual (I wondered if his legs were a little sore). As the day went on, he is acting like his normal self. He doesn't seem to be running a fever, and has only had a few moment of fussiness that don't seem at all abnormal. I went shopping with a friend at the Gap Outlet today, and we took him along. We decided to just put his car seat in the cart and push him around....he really seemed to like that, but he didn't seem to like the music they were playing (or the squeaky hangers) as he fussed a little there at times and couldn't seem to sleep. Since we got back home, he has been happy and talkative like normal. I'm going to keep an eye on him over the next couple days, but at least I'm relieved so far, so good.

I got a random box of formula in the mail from Enfamil. I'm not even using formula, but have ended up with a stash! I don't plan to use it, and it's all just sitting around unopened. I would like to find someone/somewhere to donate them to eventually before they expire. If you have any good ideas, please let me know!