ouch Mama, ouch!

We're told to do it at 2 months, but because we procrastinate, we took Penelope to her first doctor's visit yesterday. Which was a little odd considering she didn't actually see a doctor, but a nurse practitioner named Jenn. 

Nurse Jenn turned out to be a really wonderful woman. She listened to my anxieties over giving P a bunch of shots and took the time to explain the histories behind them, the benefits and how to treat the diseases if she were to come down with something I chose not to vaccinate her for. 

I'm not immunizing her for everything under the sun. Did you know that some of the early stage vaccines have only been around for a few years, and one only a few months? No way. uh uh. not happening. I know I am not alone when it comes to weighing the pros and cons of each shot they want to give our children. The list of immunizations just seems to get longer and longer.

During the hour and a half we were there, Penelope got the usual head to toe. It was interesting to see where she showed up on the baby growth charts. Turns out, I have a huge baby. I already knew this but for those of you who haven't lifted her lately, she's 63.5cms long and 14lbs, 7oz. She's in the 85 percentile for weight. She's bigger than my friend's little girl who is 2 months older! Crazy. But she's super healthy. Which is another reason I don't want to give her a shot for something that hasn't been around long enough that it's a) been proven to work and b) won't mess with her developing immune system. Remember that cold she brought home from Harvest Fest? She fought it off in 2 days. Go breast milk! *fist pump

I am feeling a little regretful for not having taken more time to think about giving her the Prevnar vaccine. I don't want to take the chance at her getting pneumonia or meningitis, but on the flip side... she isn't high risk. Did I just put unnecessary drugs into my daughter? Can I take that decision back? Are there repercussions from getting an initial shot and not following up with boosters? So many questions, so many things to research ~ and I know this is just the beginning. Someone actually mentioned looking in to childcare to me today. eeek. Really? Is this our life now? Endless researching until she's able to make decisions for herself? I suppose so. I'm okay with it in the end. After all, I don't want someone else making them for us. But overwhelming. I guess for now, I'm just going to focus on comforting her when she cries "ouch Mama, ouch"!