I don’t know about you, but before I had Alice I had no idea what first vaccinations would be like. Everyone said how awful it was, but no one gave any details. Every baby is different, but I’ll record our experience here for anyone who wants a more detailed picture.
Alice and I arrived at the office to be greeted by an over-enthusiastic receptionist who wanted us to fill out a questionnaire about her development. The questions asked about her motor skills, social skills, etc; I assume they are meant to paint a picture of how she’s developing overall. We weren’t given nearly enough time to fill out the whole form (that may have been my fault, since I sprinted through the door only 10 minutes before the appointment) before we were ushered back to have her weighed and measured.
The doctor checked her out and asked me about how she sleeps (On her tummy! I know. Maybe I’ll post about why later), how she eats (breastfed or breast milk by bottle), and whether or not I have concerns. She was very nice! Then crap got real.
The nurse came in with the vaccinations and oral inoculation for rotavirus. The latter was easy. It was just a little tube of liquid. Alice made cute, “This tastes terrible!” faces, but drank it willingly enough. She was also slated to receive DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis), Hib (haemophilus influenzae type b), Hepatitis B, Polio, and PCV13 (pneumococcal disease). This would all be delivered via three needles.
The nurse was fantastic. She had me hold Alice’s arms while she administered the shots. She lined up the needles and whipped out those jabs, 1! 2! 3! The whole thing took about eight seconds. Alice didn’t even register what was happening until the second shot, but then she was pretty upset. Poor thing screamed bloody murder and turned all purple! Still, it wasn’t nearly as bad as people had warned. I gave her a boob and she calmed right down. She even took a nap in the car on the way home.
Once there, she seemed a little hesitant to smile or nap, but she had just been through her first vaccinations and I thought she was doing incredibly well, considering. I chose not to give her Tylenol because she seemed fine. Dan took over while I went to karate. I always phone him on my way home, but when I did this time he sounded pretty frazzled.
“How is she?” I asked.
Not being one to dramatize things, he answered, “She’s been freaking out pretty bad. I have to go, I can’t stop shushing.” I could hear her start to whine in the background.
Upon my arrival home, she was calm, but Dan insisted that she needed some major boobie soothing and he needed a major break. As he handed her off, I found out what he meant. She began screaming and turning purple all over again! It was so pitiful and sad. She was obviously very uncomfortable to say the least. I was seriously regretting my choice against Tylenol, but the doctor had told me that Alice “might run a slight fever and be a little uncomfortable.” She didn’t say that Alice would “freak the f*ck out!” I administered a dose right away and cuddled and nursed her until she dozed off.
She was in and out for the next couple of hours before she finally settled into a deeper sleep. One more feeding and the crazy night was over. She awoke happy and normal, but I gave her a little more Tylenol, just to make sure. Thank God, she has been fine ever since.
Here are my recommendations for your baby’s first shots:
- Don’t give Tylenol beforehand. I was glad I didn’t because it can mess with the effectiveness of the vaccinations.
- Apparently you can ask for two nurses so they can get shots in both legs at the same time and decrease the time it takes to administer the medicine. I think this is a genius idea! It took Alice a second to register the pain of the shot, so if we did it this way she may have been done before she knew what was going on.
- Just give the Tylenol. I’m not a doctor or anything, but I don’t think one dose is going to hurt, but doing without can be excruciating for all involved.
- Don’t leave one parent alone. All that screaming calls for lots of love and support for the whole family.
That’s it. What was your experience? Do you have any tips for me as I get ready to do the next round? A more natural remedy than Tylenol perhaps?
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