Thursday, August 7, 2008

Decisions

According to a helpful commenter, I'm not supposed to encourage the.. uh.. attention to..the.. err.. thingamajiggy that might or might not be now located on the right top side of a certain someone's umm... journal.

So.... please pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Have I mentioned that Robbie needs diapers? *cough*thanksforcli.cking*cough*


In other news:

-61 grams.

It's mostly okay though. I'm not going to lie and say I didn't catch my breath when I saw the weight come up on the scale tonight, but I also know that he peed a TON and looks way less puffy. The nurse said we should call this a "dry weight." Okay fine. But the moose better be nervous.

Also- today they wanted me to sign my permission to give vaccines.

Now, I'm totally pro-vaccine. I made endless snide comments about friends of ours who refused to vaccinate their kid. But now that it's MY kid - my 3 lb 6 oz, fragile, tiny, perfect kid- I find myself swallowing hard. Yes, I want him vaccinated. But do we have to do it noooooooooww?

The day nurse acted very matter of factly about it. She was willing to answer any questions, but you could tell she just assumed I was going to sign right then and there.

The night nurse was pretty much the opposite. She wasn't encouraging me NOT to sign, but pretty much insinuated that I could make a fancy tin foil hat for her as well.

I asked to speak to the doctor. It was the doctor who delivered Robbie- the director of the entire NICU. He fell closer to the day nurse. He needs it, let's do it, what's the problem?

I asked if maybe we shouldn't wait until he was a little bigger. He admitted that he wouldn't mind if Robbie were a bit bigger. Perhaps we could wait another week or two. Maybe he could gain another half a pound, maybe a whole.

I think what I want to do is wait that time, then space them out. They give them over 2 days now. Maybe we could make it a couple of more. I don't know. I know they took the mercury out of the stuff these days. But I have a couple of friends with children on the autism spectrum and I think they'd encourage me to be cautious. And I think that's wise.

So that's what I'm mulling tonight.

I'm off to find some tin foil. And feed the moose.


--Trish

16 comments:

Heather said...

Wow! You're being a great advocate for Robbie. I think the same and I'm not a doctor. I think it would be better if he was bigger.

pyjammy pam said...

yeah, regarding the thingamajigs...i got banned from hosting ads for encouraging people to clicking them. hmmph!

Meghan said...

Here with some assvice. I've worked with children and families with autism for 10 years now and consider myself pretty on top of the current research. While I know in my head that there is little scientific evidence to support the vaccine/autism link, I do plan on spacing out the vaccines with my child.

Also, I believe I saw something about vaccines and preemies that suggested they be given at the adjusted age. And, since he is still in the hospital, aren't the odds of him catching something infintismal? I agree with you and would wait until he was bigger or closer to discharge.

Fat Girl said...

I'm glad you're being a little bit cautious regarding vaccines and your tiny beautiful baby. I have been reading a lot about vaccinations lately, trying to figure out what to do when my own baby arrives. I would highly recommend "The Vaccine Book" by Dr. Robert Sears. He explains the pros and cons of each vaccine, gives ingredients lists, and describes how each vaccine is made. He also give some schedule suggestions depending on if you want to get all the vaccines, want to delay some of them, or if you want to pick and choose particular vaccines. I've found the book to be fairly balanced (I don't feel pressured to choose one particular avenue while reading). Hopefully it will help you feel like you are making a more informed decision, whatever you decide.

I don't have any moose, but I am still praying for you guys.

Martha Compton said...

We vaccinated Campbell (our 27-weeker) according to the regular schedule except her NICU doc suggested postponing the Pediarix shot because he'd seen some babies have adverse reactions (ie babies who'd gotten off CPAP having to go back on for a few days).
Just my 2 cents.
Glad Robbie gained some "dry weight". Even these days when Campbell gains a bunch of weight I get nervous...and she's 6 months old!

Two Hands said...

As far as I recall, there was a huge study, I think in the Netherlands that discounted the autism/vaccination link (don't quote me on this though, I'll try and find it if you'd like). That being said, I'd be very reluctant to get them done now too. You do it when you and your doctor decide to, regardless of what others might think.
Heeere moosie moosie moosie.....

Elizabeth said...

clickety click... and hoping it helps darn it.

I would have expected adjusted ages for the vaccines, wow.

I'm glad you are taking time to think and not just doing the expected.

Knowing a two little boys who had the vaccine/autism coincidence It makes me wonder. If they disproved any link that would at least feel better.

Anonymous said...

Yep - vacinations are the only thing done on birth age rather than adjusted. I don't get it - but they say it is better that way. Having said that T was a few pounds heavier than Robbie is now and man the 2 month ones were hard on her!

I don't have moose around these parts - but I'm sure I could find some deer!

Darby

Anonymous said...

Being a non-mom, I have no idea why you WOULDN'T vaccinate. I was vaccinated, no problems here.

But I can understand that all that... stuff being pumped into such a little guy could cause problems.

It seems that waiting a week or two couldn't hurt, right?

Brooke said...

Regardless of the autism/vaccine link, there is general concern over giving so many vaccines at once. There is still aluminum in some of the vaccines, and little babies, in my opinion, need time to absorb some of the toxins of the vaccine. If you look at the standard schedule there are some times when you give 7 viruses at once. That just doesn't seem right to me. I am pro-vaccine, but I also think that spacing seems like a much more common sense approach, particularly with a preemie. I would also wait a couple of weeks, if it were me and likely go by adjusted age. GL with your decision. (I also liked Dr. Sears' book.)

Anonymous said...

Soooo....do you think we need to click on the ads that come up when you click the link, or is clicking the link enough? Just wondering. Let's call clicking the link option A and clicking the sites that come up when you click the link option B, and you can comment back with A or B. Happy to help!

- dr.girlfriend

Joy said...

dr. G- I believe option b is all that is required.
but I was a little confused when i signed up. for now, let's go with b and if it turns out that isn't counting, I'll not-post-about-not-asking-you-to-not-click-further about another option.

Anonymous said...

We have kept Maddie (28 weeks) on the regular vaccination schedule for her birth age, not adjusted age. I considered spacing them out, but the head of her NICU and her pediatrician both advocated doing them on the normal schedule - that way it's one day of recovery instead of several. And since Robbie has had breathing issues he will probably need the RSV vaccine, which is a monthly shot during the winter. It's sad, but these are all life-saving shots, and our little preemies need all the help they can get.

K said...

There is a great book you need to read that lists all the pros/cons (w/o trying to sway you one way or another). It's called The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears, i HIGHLY SUGGEST running to the book store to get one. I think he has a website you can check out as well. I'm finding it very helpful in figuring out what i'm doing with my little guys vaccines.

Intrepidgirl said...

I think you're right to be cautious. I have no evidence, but my gut totally agrees with you.

Stacie said...

There are two schools of thought that I have come across: 1) vaccinate according to actual age, or 2) vaccinate according to adjusted age (which is still not even 0 for Robbie). I would think if you waited a little longer to vaccinate him, you would just be following something closer to his adjusted age for his shots timeline.

It was interesting for us. They want me to treat the boys according to their adjusted age except the shots stuff. I protested about it (why not this too if I was doing everything else adjusted. never got a good answer as to why). So, I got them to spread them out so it didn't tax their systems any more than they already were.

Great job being his advocate, Trish. You are a wonderful mommy. Robbie is very lucky to have you!