lemen

*Emma Jean*

Did you have any luck finding the h1n1 vaccine up in your neck of the woods? Last I heard, we still had it available on the westside. Also, did you decide to get it for Andrew even though Dr. E wasn't an advocate? I have been emailing back and forth with him ( I think we're moving up our next appt) and I was going to ask him but figured I would wait till we saw him again.

lemen99

Hey!  No, they don't have it up here yet. boooo.  They updated the Hamilton Co. website this morning saying that they have a little bit of the vaccine.  So I hope we can get it soon.

Oh, yeah we are getting it.  I talked to Andrew's regular pedi, my friend (a pedi who has worked with Dr. Escobar), and a friend who is a nurse in his office.  I decided getting the vaccine was the best thing to do for us.

 Basically here are the higlights:

-Dr. E does not think it's necessary but he is not against it and does not think it is bad

-Andrew's pedi, my friend (pedi), and Dr. Belcher (A's infectious disease doctor in the NICU that we really love) all recommended it

When I asked my friend (a pedi) what she would do, this was her response.  She works in the ER (is in residency at St V) and said it's completely insane.  She said there are lots of normally healthy pp in there with h1n1. (She also said there are lots of people with h1n1 going to the ER that don't need to be there, but they are scared!)

Andrew is not protected by your breast milk unless YOU get the vaccine (antibodies are available ~10 days after getting the vaccine, but remember this is not as robust of an immunity as Andrew would get from his own immune system) or YOU get the illness and then make antibodies and pass them along (but then he would have to really take all fresh breast milk from you to gain protection.  The H1N1 vaccine is the same as the seasonal flu vaccine in terms of how it is made, ingredients etc except that the flu strain is new to almost everybody.  I would give it to him as another layer of protection against getting really sick...if he does get sick, then you have to take him to doctor's office/ER where he'll be exposed to a hundred other things.  Our peds ID doctor (Dr. Belcher) recommends it for everyone and says it's safe, so I am going with that.

 How is your DD doing?  Hope she's okay even though you are getting your appointment moved up!

lemen99

Do you call your daughter "Alex" for short?

She's soooo cute.  I'm in love w/ your siggy.

*Emma Jean*

Yes we call her Alex but I try and sometimes call her Alexandria too. I had a sister named Alexandria who passed away and we named our Alex after her. My parents insist on calling our Alex by her full name and while I love it too, I love Alex. I wanted to call her Lexi orginally but DH veto'ed it!

Alex is doing great but I am a worrying momma. I had just emailed Dr. E about some concerns I have with her neck muscle issues. Even though we are doing the exercises she still favors her right side and always wants to look that way. We were supposed to see Dr. E in December but he is on vacation so our appointment isn't scheduled till the end of January. I hate to wait that long if there is something (pt or whatever) that could help her. I was also concerned with her tracking but she seems to get getting better with that. Last night DH walked to the other side of the living room to get the remote. Alex was on the floor on her boppy and she followed him. He started dancing around back and forth in front of her and she followed him back and forth for a good minute and a half till the dog distracted her. It was awesome to watch. She seems to do fine with tracking us but could really care less about tracking toys. I just wanted reassurance from Dr. E that this was OK. Pretty much he reminded me to keep in mind that neurologically she is 2 1/2 months not 4 1/2 months.

I'm glad to hear you're getting Andrew the vaccine. I am planning on it as well if it is still available when she is old enough. I get very frustrated with all the people who don't have the facts and bash the vaccine. The other day someone on my Facebook page was talking about how it was a conspriacy...argh! Well if it is a conspriracy to keep my baby healthy that I am all in! But it has been almost 2 weeks since DH and I got ours and we haven't grown an extra arm or anything crazy...he he

lemen99

aww It's a beautiful name and so sentimental.  I'm sorry about your sister!

 oh! I don't blame you.  It never hurts to see a doctor sooner!  I hope everything is okay with her neck muscles.

As far as the tracking goes, I remember feeling the same way about Andrew around that age.  I think for 2 1/2 months that's probably normal.  Does she see OT or PT?  Our PT/OT seemed "concerned' (I think they are always concerned about milestones - but that's another vent) but then suddenly he did a lot better. I hope that's the case with Alex!

 Ha. I know.  People are too funny.  A guy at work asked me if we were getting it, and then mentioned not getting it for his daughter in daycare.  I was probably more outspoken than I should have been about my opinon. Oops.  

 

*Emma Jean*

Alex currently doesn't get any type of therapy but I plan to bring it up to our regular pedi in a month at our next appointment. I don't want to make trouble but at the same time if the services are available and she would benefit from them, then I want to explore those options!

Thanks for the reassurance, I am sure her tracking is fine but I feel like I worry about everything. If it isn't the tracking it is her eating or weight or bathroom habits, lol.

lemen99

I think we all do!