H1N1 and seasonal flu shots

As parents, we all know how miserable it is when your baby falls ill. If the baby is sick, they are cranky, they may not sleep well, or eat well, and are extra clingy. If that isn't bad enough, chances are you will catch their cold too and fall sick yourself. And being sick and haven't to take care of a sick baby is the worst of the worst things out there! So there you have it - we're not taking our chances and Tristan needs to be vaccinated against the flu.

Yesterday, we brought Tristan in to a public clinic that opened up in our neighborhood. They were administering H1N1 and seasonal flu shots. It's only the second week that the H1N1 vaccine has been available in Canada and this week Tristan falls under the priority group of children 6 months to 5 years. The H1N1 vaccine will probably open up to the general public in a week or two and that will be when Jean-Louis and I will get ours. We also plan to get the seasonal flu shot. We have never gotten the seasonal flu shot before but since we became parents, it has become much more important for us to stay well. I am especially concerned about myself since I can't explain how I could have fallen sick 3 times in the past 3 months. I am normally quite resistant to catching colds. I'm so tired of getting sick.

The clinic we went to was open from 9AM-3PM. We wanted to go early because we didn't want them to run out of vaccines. We heard about shortages in vaccines and long line ups so we were a bit worried. It started out exactly how I pictured it: lining up outside in the cold and freezing rain. I felt sorry for some of the parents and kids in the line up because they were all under dressed for the weather. It was no fun but once we got inside, things went quite well. Tristan received 2 pokes, 1 in each thigh. He cried on initial contact only. He was such a trooper :) Afterwards, we were instructed to sit down for 15 minutes to make sure he didn't have a reaction to the vaccine. The whole journey took about 2 hours and we got home around 12:45PM.

When we got home, we just continued on with the rest of our daily routine. Tristan seemed to be doing well so we didn't even bother giving him any Tylenol. We have been observing him and feeling for his temperature but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He went to sleep at his usual bedtime of 9PM. During the night, we noticed he had some difficulty staying asleep. This was unusual so I got Jean-Louis to check his temperature the second time he woke up. He felt a bit warm so we decided to give him some Tylenol around 2:30AM. After that, I held him for a bit until he fell asleep and then I put him down. That seemed to have done the trick and he slept until 8:30AM. In the morning, after his milk, we gave him a second dosage of Tylenol. After that, I think we more or less returned back to normal.