Conrad had his first jabs Wednesday (6 August). We first saw one of the doctors at our local surgery, who examined Conrad to check that his hips, testicles, spine, head and heart were all fine, which they were. The doctor seemed very experienced and calm, and was talking to Conrad all the time during the process (although of course really letting me know what he was doing): “now I am stretching and bending your legs to check that your hips are aligned nicely and that your legs are working as they should, and everything is bending in the right direction, isn’t it?” and “now I’m lifting you up to check the strength of your neck, and that’s very good isn’t it – what’s it like flying, is the view good?”. It was quite funny, actually. Conrad was very good and didn’t cry, wee on the doctor or throw up on him either.
After the examination the jabs followed. I had been dreading those – and the following night(s)… At 8 weeks of age, babies in the UK get two jabs, one in each thigh, for ‘Diphtheria, Tetanus, whooping cough, inactivated polio vaccine, Haemophilus influenzae b (Hib) and Pneumococcal’. Obviously it hurts to get a needle in your leg and probably comes as a bit of a shock to a little baby too, which makes you feel really bad as a parent for putting them through it… On the other hand, the jabs are over with quickly (and any potential side effects relatively quickly), whereas any illness resulting from not having the vaccinations would be much more serious. But the side effects, as probably a lot of you reading this know, can involve restless nights with lots of crying and fever, which isn’t great for anyone involved.
The nurse who gave Conrad his jabs was very calm and friendly and didn’t make any unnecessary fuss (which tends to make it worse). Conrad was sitting sideways on my lap and cried straight away after the first jab, then when I turned him around so that he could get his second jab in the other thigh, he was quiet for a brief moment until his second one. He didn’t cry for quite as long as I had expected afterwards – as I sat with him on my lap while the nurse completed her notes in Conrad’s little red book he calmed down. I still stopped off for a while in the waiting room on the way out to give him a bit of formula – feeding after the jabs at this young age is recommended (comfort eating, basically). On the way home, Conrad seemed quite content, even smiled at me from his pram.
The night after wasn’t great. Conrad was acting colicky, crying at times so much that he seemed to not be quite in control, from about 5pm to 8.30pm. It wasn’t non stop, but every time he’d managed to calm down and start to drift off to sleep (which was difficult to achieve in the first place), it was in my arms but as soon as I moved the slightest he’d stir and start crying all over again. We gave him Calpol (baby paracetamol) a couple of times, only the smallest baby dose, just in case he was in pain even though he didn’t have a temperature.
Last night was very good: Conrad woke up at 3-hour intervals for feeds and then went straight back to sleep after. A reaction to the jabs may still come the next couple of nights, though, so we’re not sure it’s over with just yet.
The night before the jabs, Conrad had fed at 7.30pm, then fallen asleep about 9-ish, to not wake up for his next feed until 1.40am – I was quite pleased with that, maybe especially since I got 4 hours sleep in one go…! I have put Conrad in his cot awake but calm several times now, and he’s been lying there looking around himself, moving his arms and legs without crying, until he’s fallen asleep. That’s very promising, as we of course don’t want him to rely on being held and rocked to go to sleep and the latter is more often the case when he’s colicky…
Conrad makes all sorts of noises now – when he’s awake and in the baby bouncer he sounds like he’s chatting away to himself and sometimes giggling, and sounding awfully cute with it too…!
Gabriella