FroMan's Journal: [parenting] Immunizations

I guess I'll start my own tag of [parenting] to let folks know, incase they are severely brain damaged and don't want to hear about the [mis]adventures that my wife and I experience raising our son.

Todays topic: Immunizations.

I have scheduled my work so that I am home one day during the week (usually wednesday) to take care of our son. On that day my wife heads in to work and I stay home doing whatever he lets me do. On some days I can get a little done in the shop, other days I carry him around on my shoulder to stave off screaming and crying.

Well, wednesday was our little boy's 2 month checkup, which they also administer immunizations. This is a good thing, those who don't have to spend hours and hours with their children tell us. So, we head in for the checkup and the little saint is pretty happy and upbeat about the day. Smiling occasionally and generally cheerful. We get to the doctor office and wait a little bit until they show us into the examination room. We get him down to his onesy (sp?) and he gets weighed and measured (11.5lbs and 22 3/4") and is doing okey.

Then the doctor comes in and asks if I have any questions, and taking out the list we had put together I rattle them off and get some answers. Things like are his ear canals right, since his dad's were kinda goofy and didn't drain right when he was little were easily answered (no, his ears are fine). She asked a few, like how is he sleeping (fine, mostly through the night). She tells (warns) me that the nurses will be in to administer the immunizations shortly.

In come two jackboots who have me hold his arms. They come wielding a grand total of three stabulators (syringes) and do a count to three and one jabs hers into his left leg while the other jabs one into his right. The left grabs the other stabulator and jabs it into his leg again. Then wisely they flee the room as if the host of hell were upon them. The once sweet and good little boy was now hyperventilating and screaming as much as his little lungs would let him.

After about 2-3 minutes of soothing him I managed to get him down to just a whimper. I gathered our gear up and took him out to the waiting room so that they could have their torture chamber back for their next victim. In hindsight this may not have been the best plan as there was a little girl, probably a year old looking at my boy who was crying. It didn't set her off, but she did get a bit of a worried look on her face.

At home, it took about 2-3 hours before the little guy started feeling the effects of the immunizations. He started getting quite obviously uncomfortable throughout the afternoon and evening. He was screaming and crying on a regular basis. He was not feeding well. And the stuff coming out his bottem was definitely not the normal color.

By the time mom made it home from work he was exhausted, but unwilling (or unable) to sleep. Over all he was just a wreck for the entire night. We did put him down at night with the usual setup (changing diaper and outfit, praying, settling in the crib). When his head hit the mattress he was out. However, he woke early (midnight) where my wife settled him. And he woke early for feeding too. That time my wife took his temp and he was a bit warm. So, childrens tylenol and we tried taking off his sleep bag. In a half hour or so we had come down a bit and we were feeling a bit better. He settled down for some more sleeping.

Not knowing what thursday would be like I stayed home (I was exhuasted from the day before and night anyways) to help out my wife. Over all he slept a lot. He did have his moments, but they were short lived and he did settle down afterwards. Today he seems to be doing fine from my reports, so it seems the worst is behind us.

Been there...

[RailGunner]

about three months ago.
One thing our doctor told us we could do, and we did, was to give her the children's tylenol right before we brought her in.
When we forgot to give her another dose, we noticed her getting feverish, but when we gave her the next dose, the fever, and her fussiness, went away.

Re:

[FroMan]

Yeah, I had given him a dose right after we got home. But it really wasn't until like 3 hours or so after the shots that he was showing bad signs. Maybe next time I'll try before hand, or maybe even let my wife have the next immunization day. ;-)

Warning

[superyooser]

I've read that getting several immunizations at once is bad for long-term health. The safe way is to get a few, wait a few months, get a few more, etc. I'd recommend, for starters, Googling for some information on that.

Re:

[FroMan]

Hmmm... I'll poke around and see what I can find. Granted my level of trust for things found on the internet is pretty low. I mean, how do I know you are the real superyooser?

Re:

[TurdTapper]

Are you sure that doesn't have to do with the way they used to mix them? It used to be that they used mercury to help mix the different immunization for Measles, Mumps and Rubella. But they don't do that anymore.

You are a good parent

[TurdTapper]

I know it's rough to see your child in pain and to have to deal with the crying and fussiness, but you are a good parent. We have one couple at church that refuses to get vaccinations for anything for their kids and that drives me nuts. I say it's child neglect if you don't do what you can to protect your kids from debilitating diseases.

Just wait until they get older. I had to hold my 5 year old down for them to give him a shot this past week. That was fun...

Re:

[FroMan]

Well, I wouldn't go so far to say I am a good parent. There are times when I feel I should be in a padded room and not the nusery.

Re:

[TurdTapper]

And now I'm absolutely convinced you are a great parent. Welcome to fatherhood, or should I say, the Insane Asylum.

It gets better, wait until they are old enough to repeat the things that you say. You have no idea how crazy or stupid you are until you hear your exact words repeated by a 2 year old. It'll make you want to cry.