We did it for the baby.

If there was anything to be frightened of this Halloween, it was H1N1.

Our suburb has been hit hard with the flu. With incidence of H1N1 on the rise in our friends and neighbors, and a realization on Friday that Roscoe cannot be vaccinated against either flu strain for at least another 3 weeks, my inner hypochondriac went into overdrive.

After countless phone calls and internet searches I finally found a flu clinic in our area. We left our house at 8:30am on Halloween morning for doors that opened at 12:00pm. When we arrived at 9:00 there were already 60 or more people in line, and they were in it for the long hall with spectator chairs, coolers of food, and stacks of reading material. We grabbed breakfast, and got in line.

Mid-morning we called our families who decided to join us, and by noon the crowd had grown to well over 500.

At 12:05 the line began to move. We shuffled to the front where we entered an efficient and well organized assembly line. First we were handed the paperwork, and ushered to a waiting area. After 15 minutes our group was called back to the "approved, awaiting vaccination" holding zone. When a nurse called the 6 of us to a partitioned cubicle, we lined up to receive the vaccine.

H1N1 Graffiti

Like a scene from a Hollywood movie, the large crowds combined with the makeshift clinic setting and general H1N1 hysteria, mixed well with the undertones of Halloween.

Round 2

This morning we took Baby Roscoe to his four month pediatric appointment. He slurped down the oral Rotavirus vaccine, and immediate nursing calmed him after the four shots were administered. We were booted out of the exam room mid-nurse, which was irritating, but otherwise the visit went well.

Roscoe fell asleep on the way home so Andy and I decided to grab a quick lunch and some ice cream. Roscoe remains asleep as I type; is it awful that I may secretly look forward to "shot days" because I get more me time?

Roscoe is holding steady in the 3rd percentile for height and weight. He's at the bottom of the chart but following his own curve, growing well and thriving. Maybe now I can put to rest all the "preemie" inquiries and "he's not getting enough to eat" concerns? Roscoe's just a small (and perfect) babe!

His pediatrician said we could introduce solids at 5 or 6 months. The recommendation for introducing solids used to be 4-6 months, but the AAP guidance now leans more toward 6 months, and we may wait even longer than that. We're more interested in Roscoe being developmentally ready for solids, than we are in adhering to a predetermined time frame.

The three biggies are 1) Baby can sit up well without support 2) Baby no longer has the tongue-thrust reflex 3) Baby is developing a "pincer" grasp. I really look forward to sharing with Roscoe my love for food! It's hard not to be tempted into giving him a little nibble of this or that, but when the time comes, it will be great fun and I can't wait to begin cooking for him.

In discussing the flu, we learned that although Flu Season typically begins mid to late October, it doesn't actually hit Northern Virginia until January/February. And while we're trying our best to facilitate vaccines for family and other caretakers who see him on a regular basis, the good news is that he'll most likely be vaccinated against influenza at 6 months (in November) before the area is affected. Still not sure on the H1N1 vaccine for him, but I know the CDC is recommending it.

Things to look forward to in the coming months: tripoding and sitting with assistance, combinations of the sounds "ma" "ba" and "da", and mobility in the form of consistent rolling back and forth!

Just Do It!

We're bound and determined to shield Baby Roscoe from the 2 evil flus this season, so today we went to CVS's Minute Clinic and got our flu shots!

After signing ourselves in at the electronic kiosk, we waited less than 5 minutes before the Nurse Practitioner called us into a private patient room. She asked if we were allergic to eggs or mercury, and whether we smoked. Then she took our insurance information, gave us the vaccine, and sent us on our way. Amazingly, it took less than 30 minutes.

We even got our name on a mailing list that will send us a message when the H1N1 vaccines are available.

Click here to find your nearest location. I highly recommend it!

For those of you interested in more information, www.flu.gov is a great resource.
And here's a nice webcast from the CDC for Pregnant Women and New Moms.