This post isn’t a typical one, but it’s one that is important to me- one I’ve been wanting to write for a long time. This post is definitely about Avery and Aurelia. But it is also about other babies, other people. It isn’t just about how cute and how precious they are. It’s about how much mommies and daddies care about their babies, and how we as families and communities should care about each other’s babies, too. This can be a controversial subject, but hey, this is OUR blog! 🙂
You’ve probably heard about the recent measles outbreak. If you are reading from Spain, measles is sarampión, and the current outbreak began when a foreign visitor sick with the virus came to Disneyland (this visitor was NOT an undocumented illegal, but that’s for a different post!)
When we took Avery and Aurelia for their first pediatrician visit, our doctor told us that everyone in our immediate family should get the tdap vaccine, which protects us against whooping cough (and tetanus, so we should get these shots for ourselves anyway). The pediatrician explained to us that whooping cough is deadly for babies and is most often transferred to them by parents and grandparents who may not know that they have it. Here is a link to a story about such an occurrence- the mother thought she just had a cough, because it doesn’t affect adults as badly, generally. The doctor thought she had allergies. In fact, she had whooping cough and gave it to her newborn, who almost died. Even if you have had whooping cough, even if you have been vaccinated, you need a booster every 5 years or so. This baby spent a month in the hospital, and here is a quote from her mother: “The worst part is that you can’t really do anything once you have pertussis. They give you antibiotics just so that you’re not contagious, but you have to just ride it out. We’d stand near Caroline when she would cough and couldn’t catch her breath. It’s absolutely heart-breaking.” Here is a picture of her baby:
And here is a link to the article:
Now here are my two babies on the day we brought them home from the hospital. My daughter weighed less than 5 lbs at the time, my son about 5 1/2. You can see how tiny and fragile they are. The pediatrician told us that a case of whooping cough could easily kill them, and would certainly land them in the hospital.
Now, Josh and I made the very easy decision to ask all friends and family who would be in contact with them to get this important vaccine. The timing was essential, as the smaller they are the more susceptible they are to getting sick. We recognize that it isn’t right to force anyone to get a vaccine, or to do anything to themselves that they are not comfortable doing. So our rule, finally, had to be get the shot if you’d like to be around our babies. You don’t have to get the shot, but in that case, you can’t be around the babies until they are old enough to have had their full course of vaccinations. We are their mommy and daddy, and ultimately we are the only ones who they can rely on to protect them.
We realize that our children will get sick. They will get colds. They will have to build up their immune systems, sometimes by getting viruses and fighting them off. But things like measles and whooping cough are a different thing entirely. Plus, we know there are children who cannot be vaccinated because their immune systems can’t handle it- maybe they are fighting cancer, maybe they have had a heart transplant (as is the case with one of our friend’s daughter), or maybe they have auto-immune problems. I will always, always make sure that I am vaccinated so that I can protect those who are too little or whose immune systems are too weak to be vaccinated themselves.
I look at the faces of my healthy and happy children and cannot imagine making any other decision than the one we made at that first pediatrician’s visit. Vaccines can be a touchy subject, and if you refuse to be vaccinated that is your choice, but our choice is that you cannot be around our children. It is not something silly, it is not something frivolous, it could mean a world of difference to a little one.
We’ll leave you with the pictures of our healthy and happy babies! Here’s to modern marvels- like vaccines, and people who develop them. Here’s to cute babies everywhere 😉
Peas in a Pod 