Get Vaccinated!

I don't have anything super interesting to post about and I don't have any recent photos to share today.  So, you get a PSA about being vaccinated!

A couple years ago, Nick's cousin's daughter got pertussis (whooping cough) as a newborn and it was a scary time for them.  She likely got it from an adult who hadn't been vaccinated.  Infants get 5 doses of the DTaP vaccine (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis) starting at 2 months.  So before they are fully vaccinated, they can get these nasty diseases and at that age, they can be life threatening.  No one ever told us that when our kids were born, so I'm thankful that they were never affected.  Little Claire recovered and was/is fine, but it was a wake up call for the whole family.

With three new babies arriving in the next 2 months (sister, sister-in-law, friend) we don't want to put any of them at risk.  Both Nick and I got vaccinated in the last 24 hours and even though I'm currently lying in bed suffering from the side effects, I'm still glad I got it.  Just a little fatigue, nausea, stomach ache, headache, and chills - nothing I can't handle.   But I'm already feeling better than I was at noon today, so that's good.  :)

So if you haven't ever had it, go get your Tdap vaccine!  The adult version has a different name, but it still protects against all three diseases for 10 years.  Even if you've had a tetanus shot, check with your Dr. because sometimes they only give the Td vaccine, which doesn't have the pertussis component.

Here is the link for the vaccine info from the CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-td-tdap.pdf