April’s vaccination story
At the end of the day, we went ahead and vaccinated all of our children on schedule. We wanted to be able to help protect our children and this is what was best for our family.
Growing up, I watched my parents navigate life as newcomers to this country. I saw them struggle with language barriers and how this made them unable to ask all of the questions they may have wanted to.
My parents certainly always wanted what was best for me, but I can’t help but wonder if there were ever times they wished they had more health information.
When it came to having children of my own, my first two children were vaccinated on schedule. I was a new mom, and I went along with what I was told to do.
But throughout my third pregnancy there was a shift in my mindset. My maternal instinct to dig deeper led me to seek out opinions and stories about vaccines from other moms like me who had been through it before. It became a decision: to vaccinate or not?
This time around, I was determined to take on a more active role. I promised myself I’d never take for granted the ability to make informed decisions—an opportunity that my parents might not have enjoyed as often.
So my husband and I had many conversations with our pediatrician and I brought my questions. Getting answers to these questions from a health care professional that I trusted was the first step in building my confidence in vaccines.
Around the time these conversations occurred, I also found out that two people I actually knew relatively well had illnesses that are preventable with vaccines.
How could this happen to them? The problem was no longer some distant issue happening miles away from my comfort zone. It really hit home.
The true impact of vaccines is this: diseases still exist in the world but when we do our part to vaccinate against them, we do the work to fight them together.
At the end of the day, we went ahead and vaccinated all of our children on schedule. We wanted to be able to help protect our children and this is what was best for our family. To this day, we have no regrets.
More moms with real stories
Celenia
Wife and mother, MRI technologist, world traveler