Immunizations

This is not a post about whether or not people should vaccinate their kids.

Did you know that Washington D.C. has an Immunization Law? Basically, because of this law, I had to go get some shots or else my registration at George Washington University would be put on hold. My doctor needed to provide the dates of past immunizations and make sure I was up to date on any boosters. I looked over my shot record and thought I would only need a Tetanus booster.

My nurse looked over my shot record and discovered that my Hep B shots had not been given at the right times (they were too close together) so they didn't count. I did need a Tetanus booster. According to my shot record I also needed a Menigococcal vaccine. Okay. Fine. I thought I needed one, now I need three.

The Tetanus shot was fine. No big deal. The nurse warned me that the Hep B shot would hurt. Ouch! She was right! It's a good thing they give that one to babies in a series because all at once is painful. Both of those were given in my left arm. The nurse gave the Menigococcal vaccine in my right arm. She said, "Now, this one won't hurt now but it'll swell up and get sore later." I said, "Hm, that sounds just like what happened when I got my Whopping Cough vaccine." Turns out, Menigococcal and Whopping Cough are the same vaccines. I got the Whopping Cough vaccine in the hospital after I gave birth to William. My arm got a HUGE welt and it was extremely sore for days. It made breastfeeding so difficult. I hope I don't get the same reaction. My arm is getting more sore every minute. I am trying to move it around but I worry it'll swell up again.

Oh, well. I think it's silly that I needed all these shots to do my grad program ONLINE. Seriously? I can't infect someone with Whopping Cough via the internet. That's ridiculous. I guess it's good to be up to date on my Tetanus shot and Hep B. And a little extra protection against Whopping Cough won't kill me, right?