Ouch!!!

We have begun the most dreaded step in the entire adoption process! The shots! Some of you may laugh, but some of you know how desperately I hate shots, more than peas even!!!!! But what a mom does for her child should be quite evident here! And not only that, I have to subject my Julee and my sister and my sweet, innocent nephew Garrett to these shots too!

So I delayed as long as possible but eventually, I figured I might as well get it over with! So, today, we went to the highly recommended international immunization specialist on HH. Paula Hart spent well over 30 minutes taking our histories and calming our fears and answering our questions. As it turns out, the kids are lucky in that they are so well immunized already that they only need to receive the Hepatitis A series (2 shots, 6 months apart). We will most likely also have them receive an adult Tetanus Booster after they turn 11 which is something they would have to get anyway!

For Tricia and I, we have to have the Hep A series plus Hep B (3 shots in the series over 7 months), and the dreaded Tetanus. We will also receive a typhoid vaccine (possibly an oral dose, I hope, I hope!) closer to travel dates as that one is only good for a limited time. The Hep A and B series are for lifetime immunity. When we know where in China we will be traveling, we also may be given oral Malaria pills. There is talk of even getting a flu shot this fall. All these shots and I don't even think of reconsidering! It must be love!!

Good news, we all made it through the first set of shots with minimal tears and some awesome Cold Stone Ice Cream!

Update: After some research into thimerosal allergies, Tricia and I both received our first Hep B shot on 5/31/06 and came out alive!

Update: Tricia and I received the second Hep B shot on 6/28/06!

Update: Tricia, Ken, Garrett and Lydia received the Flu Mist on 10/18/06. Julee and I received the Flu Shot on 10/22/06.