Baby's First Vaccine

The scientist in me is sort of weirdly proud of the fact that my baby's first first is a vaccine.

A few weeks back, the doctor told us that we needed to make sure we were up to date on our whooping cough vaccine and to tell our friends and family the same. Anyone who was going to be spending significant time around the baby and hadn't had a booster in ten years was supposed to get one. So we spread the word and Kevin made an appointment to get his booster and a basic physical, during which he discovered that he'd had the booster just a few years ago.

This prompted me to call the doctor, and, sure enough, I'd received the booster just last year. I happily checked one more thing off the to-do list and didn't give it another thought.

Until the next doctor's appointment, when I was asked if I'd gotten the booster. I explained that I'd had it a year ago, and my doctor said I needed it again anyway. It turns out you're supposed to get one every pregnancy, between weeks 27 and 36, to pass the immunization on to the baby. It's not perfect, but it provides some protection until the kid can get a vaccine of his own (which I think happens at 2 months).

So after my appointment, I got to trek out and get the TDAP booster. Which was basically a non-event. I also have to get the flu shot before I give birth, but my doctor said to wait a couple more weeks for that, so I cover more of flu season. But I'm pleased to be starting off the kid's life the right way, getting his vaccinations started before he's even born. No preventable diseases here.

Baby Registry

Once we got settled in the new house, it was time to start focusing on the next big change in our lives: the baby. We've sort of been ignoring the whole thing up to this point, figuring we'll deal with all the details once we got in the new hosue. And now that we're finally thinking about the kid, it seems like it's all happening way too fast. It doesn't help that there is an overwhelming amount of stuff to think about.

The biggest casualty of this whole procrastination has been the childbirth class. By the time we got around to signing up for one, there was only on possible date before my due date. A six-hour Saturday class on a day that Kevin only has a 50/50 chance of being in town. Luckily, this is the age of the internet. We found an online course that we can do at our own pace in our own time. Now we just have to remember to do it.

The other big thing is the baby registry. We had to pick out everything from a crib and a stroller to bottles and a thermometer. It ended up taking a couple of weeks to research everything and figure out what we wanted and what we felt like we actually needed. The store recommended an absurd number of blankets. After we put them all on, we ended up taking about half back off. We figure that if we really end up needing them, we can buy them after the kid shows up. And at the recommendation of the store, we didn't end up putting any clothes or toys on the registry at all. Apparently people just buy what they want in those categories, and we can always go back and fill in what we need when the due date gets closer.

It's nice to have this all taken care of. Now we just need to wait and see what people want to gift us and what we'll have to buy ourselves. Hopefully we manage the timing well enough that we have everything by the time the kid actually gets here. That could be the trickiest part of the whole thing. Maybe we shouldn't have waited so long to get our act together.