Just to try to keep up my desire to blog for real, I am going to post about my decision and feelings about our flu shots.
I have had several people ask me if we were getting the shots and why. So, I thought I’d write them down. But I want people to know I think this is a personal decision and I completely respect everyone’s direction they go with for themselves and their families.
The kids and I all got our H1N1 shots last week. I couldn’t drive fast enough, in sleet, to get to the place I heard was offering them in KC. I decided to get them for the following reasons:
1. For the selfish reason that I don’t want to freak out every time I forget to wash the kids hands before they eat or play with a friend who has a fever an hour after our play date. I can drive myself crazy before the holidays or during an outbreak with stuff like that.
2. As a pregnant person with other health concerns I didn’t want to put myself and the baby at an unneeded risk, plus I’ve heard that it can help the baby’s immune system too and since I probably can’t breastfeed, I want to give it the best immune system that I can. Although people have been fearful that this shot was manufactured fast, I haven’t heard any reason this flu shot is any more dangerous than the yearly shot. But most importantly, I learned while trying to get pregnant and then going through my pregnancy with Eliza while on arthritis medication, that you have to weigh the risks vs. benefits sometimes and then just go with the decision and not feel guilty about the “what ifs.”
3. I think we have the most effective vaccination system the world has ever known and our generation has never lived through a “plague” or dealt with anything close to polio or wide spread measles so we’ve lost touch with how devastating that could be. Our kids don’t even have to get the chicken pox any more. It’s easy with all of our conveniences and up to date medicine to get out of touch with the reality that for every shot my child takes, thousands, if not millions of children have died from that disease before.
Now, this is NOT to get into the debate about autism or vacinations related to that argument. I have strong emotions for many people involved in that debate and I do not want to touch on that on our blog.
I just have had several people ask me if we were getting the shots and why. So, I thought I’d write them down.
**For the record, that is the LAST time I am going to be able to fool Jadon into getting a shot by simply not saying the word “shot” until his pants start coming down. My boy WILL NOT be fooled again. But a sucker bribe, that may still at least soothe the wounds.**
What have you decided?
Filed under: Just Jadon, Our Family, Simple Thoughts, Sweet Eliza, The World | 4 Comments »
























