Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Vaccination Station Revisited

Today was a vaccination day. Since I decided to split the shots up and give less at one time, we have to go more often.  I am still very satisfied with my decision.  Today the little guy got his Hep B and Pneumococcal shots.  Of all the shots he has received, I struggled the most with the Hep B vaccine.  I didn't get the Hep B vaccination until I was in college and that was because I was working in the human service field.  It was appropriate for me to get the vaccine given the line of work I was in, however for a little baby who rarely comes in contact with people outside of the family is it really necessary?  I don't know.  We did obviously decided to go ahead and adhere to the CDC recommended immunizations.

We didn't get away with no tears this time, but the baby literally cried for maybe twenty seconds and that was it.  I brought along one of his favorite little toys for him to hold onto during the shots.  After the nurse put a Tweety Bird circle on each leg, I gave Logan one of his super puffs and all was good in the world again.  Typically the shots would be given during a normal well visit, however, the past two times that we went in for the well visit the baby had been feverish and I didn't want to do the shots at that time (neither did his doc).  So we went in a separate time for a 'nurse visit'.  I kind of like these nurse visits.  I am there for about five minutes, I don't have to get the baby undressed as long as the nurse has access to his chubby little thighs and the baby doesn't have time to get worked up at all.  Today I felt silly when I got to the parking garage as the valet must have just parked my vehicle when I appeared to have them pull it up for me!

After we went to the doctor, we went shopping at Target to stock up on a few supplies and get some more snacks for the boy.  I picked up some baby food as well.  Logan has been eating a lot more lately. Not sure why, but all of a sudden he is eating three meals a day plus snacks.  These meals are much larger than he has previously eaten.  I always wonder what a normal or average amount is that the little ones eat at each stage of their life.  When it comes to solid foods it seems there is a large range.  Logan has been eating about 3-4 ounces of food each meal.  His snacks have been finger foods, whether it be puffs or something like avocado.  I am just so pleased that he is eating and not experiencing constipation!  Maybe his little body has finally adjusted to his new method of gaining nutrition! The vaccinations didn't seem to effect his appetite for solids at all, although I found he wanted to nurse less today.  He was more interested in being on the floor checking things out.  Therefore, I am concerned he didn't receive enough liquids today.  He also didn't have much interest in juice or water.

When we got home I was half expecting that he was going to get a fever and get fussy.  He is a little more fussy than usual, but doesn't have a fever and I am not sure that the fussiness is from the vaccinations.  I think he might have simply been tired.  I can always tell if he is sick because he won't let me put him down and I am not able to console him easily.  Today he played on the floor with his toys and if he cried I could get him interested in a toy, book, or snack very easily. Then... no more tears!  We went for a long walk this afternoon which was very pleasant and he was in bed at 830.  Not too shabby for vaccination day!

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