Yesterday afternoon we took Eddie to the free immunisation clinic which is provided by our local council. Luckily we got there as they were just opening, because the waiting room filled up fast after we got there. Lots of kids of all ages looking very concerned about what was about to happen to them... except for the infants who were all mostly sleeping and completely unaware.
Eddie was content to cuddle me and look over my shoulder at all the colourful wall art which had been created by children. He loves bright colours. Within a few minutes, our number was called and we had to go up and register. The lady was entering all Eddie's info into the computer, and filling out his immunisation card when she asked if Chop and I had been immunised against whooping cough. It turned out that we hadn't so the lady booked us both in for a shot too. Totally unexpected! This shot was also a tetanus shot, which is good because I don't remember when I last had this topped up.
We took Eddie to the nurse who explained the three types of immunisation he'd be getting. The Rotavirus vaccine is taken in the mouth, and the other two were injections in each thigh (one for pneumococcal, the other vaccine covered diptheria/ tetanus/ whooping cough/ polio/ hepatitus B/ Hib). She went over the possible side effects, and this was the first moment I started to worry about it. At that moment I realised the responsibility of monitoring him, and 'knowing' when to act if he was sick. It's kinda scary with a baby as they can't tell you exactly what the problem is when they're unwell. Anyway, she told me to hold Eddie in the feeding position so she could put the liquid dropper into his mouth. He resisted it at first because he didn't really know what was happening, and then he gently sucked the dropper. He fussed a bit afterwards, and coughed, but it looked like he managed to swallow all of the liquid without dribbling any.
Next she told me to hold him on my lap facing her with his head on my chest. By this time Chop had been given his injection in his arm, and had come over to hold Eddie's hand for the next part. I held Eddie's other hand as the first needle was jabbed into his right leg. Chop was crouching down so he could watch Eddie's reaction, which was awful. He immediately went beetroot red and screwed his little face up, then let out the loudest scream. He hadn't finished that first scream when the nurse got him on the left thigh with an even bigger needle. He screamed some more. It even made Chop tear up as he watched Eddie feel pain. I'm glad I couldn't see his little purple face! I had to hand Eddie to Chop for comforting while I then got my injection (which didn't hurt at all), then we went back to the busy waiting room where we needed to sit for 15 minutes in case Eddie had any immediate reactions to the shots.
I gave him big cuddles as we sat there, and his tears stopped while he looked around the room at all the colours and different faces. A lady from my Mother's Group came in looking completely overwhelmed and scared so Chop offered her his seat, and we explained what Eddie had just gone through. As we did this, Eddie was cuddled into my shoulder looking at her and then he started smiling and making his happy noises. So cute! I think this reassured her a lot, because she admitted how nervous she was about seeing her son in pain, but Eddie seemed to be doing fine afterwards.
Eddie was quieter than normal after we got home, but he was still very alert and gave a few smiles, so I wasn't stressed about him having a bad reaction to the shots. We gave him a nice warm bath to help him relax, and then he had his feed before bed. I'm writing this blog post during his first night feed, he has just had 6 hours sleep, and I think he's feeling fine.
I'm glad that first immunisation is over and done with now. Eddie seems to be a pretty tough little guy who can get over things fairly quickly (so far). That'll probably change in the future when he realises the attention he can get if he acts up, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Follow me on Instagram @whatalisees for a daily dose of our life in Australia!
Eddie was content to cuddle me and look over my shoulder at all the colourful wall art which had been created by children. He loves bright colours. Within a few minutes, our number was called and we had to go up and register. The lady was entering all Eddie's info into the computer, and filling out his immunisation card when she asked if Chop and I had been immunised against whooping cough. It turned out that we hadn't so the lady booked us both in for a shot too. Totally unexpected! This shot was also a tetanus shot, which is good because I don't remember when I last had this topped up.
We took Eddie to the nurse who explained the three types of immunisation he'd be getting. The Rotavirus vaccine is taken in the mouth, and the other two were injections in each thigh (one for pneumococcal, the other vaccine covered diptheria/ tetanus/ whooping cough/ polio/ hepatitus B/ Hib). She went over the possible side effects, and this was the first moment I started to worry about it. At that moment I realised the responsibility of monitoring him, and 'knowing' when to act if he was sick. It's kinda scary with a baby as they can't tell you exactly what the problem is when they're unwell. Anyway, she told me to hold Eddie in the feeding position so she could put the liquid dropper into his mouth. He resisted it at first because he didn't really know what was happening, and then he gently sucked the dropper. He fussed a bit afterwards, and coughed, but it looked like he managed to swallow all of the liquid without dribbling any.
Next she told me to hold him on my lap facing her with his head on my chest. By this time Chop had been given his injection in his arm, and had come over to hold Eddie's hand for the next part. I held Eddie's other hand as the first needle was jabbed into his right leg. Chop was crouching down so he could watch Eddie's reaction, which was awful. He immediately went beetroot red and screwed his little face up, then let out the loudest scream. He hadn't finished that first scream when the nurse got him on the left thigh with an even bigger needle. He screamed some more. It even made Chop tear up as he watched Eddie feel pain. I'm glad I couldn't see his little purple face! I had to hand Eddie to Chop for comforting while I then got my injection (which didn't hurt at all), then we went back to the busy waiting room where we needed to sit for 15 minutes in case Eddie had any immediate reactions to the shots.
I gave him big cuddles as we sat there, and his tears stopped while he looked around the room at all the colours and different faces. A lady from my Mother's Group came in looking completely overwhelmed and scared so Chop offered her his seat, and we explained what Eddie had just gone through. As we did this, Eddie was cuddled into my shoulder looking at her and then he started smiling and making his happy noises. So cute! I think this reassured her a lot, because she admitted how nervous she was about seeing her son in pain, but Eddie seemed to be doing fine afterwards.
Eddie was quieter than normal after we got home, but he was still very alert and gave a few smiles, so I wasn't stressed about him having a bad reaction to the shots. We gave him a nice warm bath to help him relax, and then he had his feed before bed. I'm writing this blog post during his first night feed, he has just had 6 hours sleep, and I think he's feeling fine.
I'm glad that first immunisation is over and done with now. Eddie seems to be a pretty tough little guy who can get over things fairly quickly (so far). That'll probably change in the future when he realises the attention he can get if he acts up, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
 |
| 19th Aug: Eddie in the car on our way to get injection. All calm! |
Follow me on Instagram @whatalisees for a daily dose of our life in Australia!
I think the first vaccines are the worst. Not that it really gets easier watching them cry but you at least know what is going to happen and what is going on.
ReplyDelete