Pissed Off Panda 🐼👽😡

I deleted my previous post because I don’t want to come across as an anti-vaxxer. I’m 100% pro-science and pro-vaccination. But today was one of the scariest experiences I’ve had as a first-time mom. My almost 10-week-old baby, who barely ever cries and is usually all smiles, suddenly started screaming bloody murder after he received his 2 months routine vaccines. The kind of screaming that makes you think your child is in excruciating pain. I was absolutely hysterical. At 7 p.m., I found myself calling 911 and the pediatrician, terrified something was seriously wrong. Here’s what made it so frightening: the rotavirus vaccine carries a very rare risk of intussusception, a potentially life-threatening condition where part of the intestine slides into another, causing severe abdominal pain. One warning sign is sudden, intense crying in waves and that was exactly happening. At the same time, his thighs were red, swollen, and extremely painful from the injections. He was screaming, kicking his legs, and appearing to have cramps. Was it intestinal pain or pain from the injections? I had no idea. After nearly an hour of trying to comfort him, he finally calmed down. We suspect his legs were hurting, but we can’t know for certain without an examination. What would I do differently? I would discuss spacing the vaccines about a week apart with our pediatrician, while still following the recommended age limits and completing every vaccine. Not because I question vaccines or their benefits, but because experiencing several possible side effects simultaneously made it incredibly difficult to understand what was happening to my baby. I understand that giving vaccines together is well studied and recommended as safe, and that spacing them out isn’t proven to reduce serious reactions. But after today’s experience, I want to have that conversation before his four-month vaccinations.