I vaccinate to protect my winter babies

An F-bomb was dropped in our house last month. No, not that one. I’m talking about the dreaded FLU.

Growing up, I only remember thinking that the flu was no fun. As a parent, the flu is downright fearful. What if I get it and can’t take care of my girls? And worse, what if they get it? I’ve seen the conversations in the various mommy groups I belong to on Facebook; moms are scared. Every visit to a public place is wrought with fear of germs. My throat feels scratchy just thinking about grocery carts.

It feels like this flu season has been particularly scary. According to recent reports, the flu is killing up to 4,000 Americans a week. That is staggering. My news feed has been filled with stories about the flu, and it makes me want to stay home and hibernate until the coast is clear.

Despite our entire family getting flu shots at the beginning of the season, Zack was diagnosed with Influenza B a few weeks ago. This kind of thing can happen, even when vaccinated, because of the many different types of flu viruses. After we got the news, he barricaded himself in the basement and the girls and I kept away as much as possible. Thankfully — knock on wood — the girls and I escaped relatively unscathed and Zack was back on his feet a few days later.

Children under the age of five are among those who have a higher risk of developing serious flu complications, which is one of the reasons why making sure the girls both got the flu vaccine this season was very important to me. I can’t imagine how I might have felt about Zack having the flu if Margot was too young to get the vaccine this year. Continue reading “I vaccinate to protect my winter babies”