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Shoot ‘em up, cowboy!

Yesterday I almost wished I had little blindfolds to put over my children’s faces as I lined them up at the pediatrician’s office. One left leg. One right leg. Second left leg. Second right leg. The guilt was nearly indescribable as I saw each of them first look at me with a trusting smile and then watched as their faces registered shock, then horror. Their howls of pain made me feel sick and I actually broke into a sweat. Oh vaccine day. Why must we always hurt the ones we love?

(Sappy mommy now becomes hardened professional) Because it’s the right thing to do. My children get their shots, every single one, as early as the schedule allows. I believe in the power of vaccination and have a deep respect for their life-saving powers. I have taken care of children who have suffered greatly because either they or someone in their community were not immunized. I watched a family spend days, then weeks, sitting by the bed of a little girl who nearly died from tetanus. I have put a breathing tube down the throat of a baby who was too young for a pertussis (whooping cough) shot and was exposed by an unaware adult whose immunity had lapsed. I’ve seen a child spend first time in the ICU, then weeks in rehab because of chicken pox.

So now Eva is all caught up until she turns 1. And Zoe is at least partly protected from some types of meningitis, bone infections, liver failure and dehydration. That is what I kept reminding myself yesterday when I had to soak Zoe in a warm tub to calm her down in the middle of the day, trying not to look at her little red, swollen thigh. But then she zonked out, slept a straight 12 hours, even skipping dinner, drained a bottle at 4 am and this morning is probably the happiest and cutest I’ve ever seen her. Well worth it, I’d say.

Dr. Lara Zibners, Mar 30, 2010

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