Taking Jenny McCarthy's Side in the Vaccination Debate
Most of Alexis' early months are a blur buried deep in the back corner of my mind, but her 9th week of life stands out.
It's not for good reasons.
Over eight years ago, a tiny Alexis and I ventured to her doctor's office for her two-month checkup. That's the first of the fun appointments, for those of you who have lost track. It's the first one where multiple shots are a thing. It's multiple shots and a few of the vaccinations have side effects. I think discomfort, irritability, and fever are on the official list, but the unofficial list says it better.
Caution: These vaccines may cause your baby to HATE EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING AND RAWWWWR.
Alexis took the unofficial list very seriously. She was Cranky McCrankerpants instantly. Worse, though, within a few hours of getting the shots, she had a fever. It was just a little one, but still. Baby's first fever is not something you have embroidered on a pillow.
A few hours after the few hours, the fever was a tiny bit worse, despite the fact that Tiny Alexis had been given Baby's First Drugs. The fever was cutting through the Tylenol and gaining momentum.
That led to Mommy's First Call to the Doctor. It was a Friday and I remember it clearly. Her temperature was hovering right around 100 degrees, and I was told to suck it up. Tylenol! Calm! It's not a big deal!
I went with it.
But then Saturday rolled around and things weren't better. As the day went on, things progressively got just a tiny bit worse. Right around the time the pediatrician's office closed, the poor kid looked absolutely miserable. Once we had officially entered that magical time of day when your pediatrician will take your call, but from the golf course, things had escalated out of control.
Alexis' temperature was over 102, so off to the emergency room we went.
I don't have words for how that night played out. The poor kid was dehydrated, feverish, and pissed. PISSED. She became even more pissed when she had to get an IV. She was right around 13 pounds at the time, but it took four adults to pin her down so they could get that IV into her tiny little arm.
If I stop and think about it, I can still hear her screams.
Four days later, Alexis was released from the hospital. She never had an official diagnosis, but it was pretty obvious that the vaccinations were the start of the something bad.
So you can imagine how very excited I was to take Mila for her two-month vaccinations. I wanted a cookie and a Certificate of Excellence for even showing up. I feel like I earned the right to Jenny McCarthy this round of vaccinations, crazy irrational ranting and all.
But then it was done.
And HOOBOY was Mila pissed. She spent the entire day giving me a piece of her mind.
But she didn't get a fever.
At all.
The next day, it was like nothing had ever happened.
Exhale.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Reader Comments (6)
I love how the pic of Mila captures your relief so perfectly. She's adorable! Glad the appointment went well- those are always nerve-wracking.
This baby is unbelievably photogenic. So much life and sparkle and just...stuff!..going on behind those eyes!
So glad that you did not get a repeat of what happened the first time. Your kids are so beautiful!
Multiple vaccinations after the 5 month mark tripped the Howler's then-undiagnosed asthma...We made multiple visits to get those vax after that. They may have thought I was crazy, but when the doc says, "it's Ok" and within a day it's back on breathing treatments and steroids, it's not Ok. They didn't appreciate my making them put it in her chart that way either. The crazy went away fast, she got all her vax, and with 2 asthma related ER trips in 12 years (my research showed that most children with asthma have more than 2 trips a year until they reach their teen years) proved me not crazy at all.
They keep pushing Gardisil at us, and I think the crazy may be coming back.
I'm so glad Mila's went okay. Dang, is she cute as a button or what?
@mumple -- And that right there is the Jenny McCarthy problem. I know she means well and is just trying to do the right thing for her kid, but her lunatic ramblings and stance that science has definitively proven wrong make it hard for people who have legitimate reasons to choose a slower vaccine schedule or other options to do what's best. ::sigh::