18 Month Check-up & The Dreaded Vaccines

Monday morning was Hudson's 18 month check-up. Here are his latest stats:

height: 32 inches (35th %)

weight: 23 pounds 5 ounces (15th %)

Although he hasn't grown leaps and bounds as he was in the early months, he is growing and still on his growth curve. He's just so busy and active he burns everything off that he eats!! Sounds like his Daddy!

During his visit he also received the DTaP vaccine. My pediatrician understands that I have slight anxiety over all the vaccinations, so we have been spacing them out throughout the months, so that we don't overload Hudson's system with multiple vaccines at once. However this one vaccine is really a combination of three. He took the shot like a champ. I think he was more mad about being held down, then about the actual shot. Once we let him up he stopped crying. However, Tuesday night after his bath, we noticed that his leg (where they gave the vaccine) was red, blotchy and completely swollen. I should have taken a picture, but I was too worried to think about it! After another visit to Urgent Care at 8:30 in the evening, we were told he must have gotten an infection from the injection. So my anxiety was validated!! My poor son is the 1 in 4 kids this can happen to as a result of the vaccine, and has this huge elephant leg on his little body. They marked and measured the swelling, prescribed an antibiotic, and told us to keep an eye on it. The swelling has finally started to go down today. So, I'm confident the antibiotics are working. I'm not so confident though about him receiving the other doses he is supposed to have, and concerned about how he got an infection!! The doctors and nurses who work with my children from this point are going to have to get used to a minor interrogation before the poke my kids again!!

Thankfully he seems to be doing fine, but we just have to laugh at all this poor kid has had to deal with in just 18 little months. He's such a trooper! The thought of what the future brings is a little scary!Fortunately, I can find relief knowing God is in control...there's no telling what else this kid will get into!