baby flu shot – The Late Stork

A few days ago, I noticed some spots on Faith’s sleeper.

It looked like blood stains but there was no way it could have come from Faith. She had no scratches on her chest. No marks at all. So I thought maybe it was from me? Maybe blood from my breast milk got on her? But no… that wasn’t it. I would have definitely noticed if I was expressing blood. I would have had the same stains on my breast pads. My clothes, breast pads, and nursing bras are all clean. So I just thought that maybe it’s something that got on her clothes while I was doing a load of laundry?

Then again today, I noticed more spots on the same side of another sleeper …

This spot was directly over her nipple. I looked at her left nipple and saw nothing wrong. It wasn’t swollen or red. There were no scratches on it. So the only thing I could think of was that blood was coming directly from her nipple! I felt for any bumps, and she laughed because it tickled, so Faith wasn’t having any pain or discomfort. She seemed completely fine.

I Googled “blood coming from baby’s nipple” to see if I could find any answers, and it turns out that it has happened to lots of babies that are exclusively breastfed . The mother’s hormones are in the breast milk, and the baby is adjusting to these hormones. It doesn’t sound dangerous, and I guess it goes away on its own in time without any problems. However, I read that this is very rare in babies, so I was very worried.

Fortunately today was the day for Faith’s flu booster shot. So while we were there I discussed this with the pediatrician. She said she had never seen this before, and that she wanted to talk with a few other pediatricians about it. Later this evening she called me and said that it should be nothing to worry about. She does believe it is because of hormones, and that it should go away in time. I am keeping an eye on this, and if it persists, or if her other nipple starts to bleed, I will let the pediatrician know.

To all of my mommy readers that have breastfed or are breastfeeding their babies… has this happened to your baby? Does anyone out there have any additional information about this? I would love to hear from you.

Faith did well taking her booster flu shot. She is starting to remember shots :( When we laid her on the table and the nurse wiped her leg with alcohol, Faith’s face changed straight to fear, and her eyes grew big. Poor thing. She cried when she got the shot, but she recovered pretty quickly this time because it was only one injection this time, instead of 3 or 4. One shot, and it took just a few seconds, and then she was in my arms and already calming down. Aaron grabbed a kid’s book to show her, and it helped her stop crying. However, a few minutes into the book and she started crying again out of the blue. She was remembering :( I wish I could take those scary memories away from her.

She is fine now! Back to her big smiles and laughs! My tough girl :)

“I don’t need no stinkin’ band-aid…”

Faith had some more booster shots again at her 6-month appointment, along with her first flu shot. I think Faith is starting to remember her interactions with the pediatrician and nurses. Once again, when we laid her down, and the nurse held her legs to prepare for the injections… Faith’s face was full of anxiety, and she was already starting to make fussy noises that were more sounds of fear, than sounds of annoyance. I can’t stand the miserable feeling I have when watching my little girl lie there helpless, and she is anticipating pain; the worry is clear on her face, yet I can’t stop it from happening. She just looks up at the ceiling with fearful eyes, and waits for the moment of pain. It’s the absolute worst feeling. And this time, her cry was heart wrenching to me because it wasn’t a sudden loud, and long scream. It was sobs. Like her feelings were hurt worse than ever before, like she felt she was all alone in her pain. No loud cries, just sobbing… over and over. I feel like crying just telling you all about it!

Faith did recover fairly well. I nursed her for a little bit, which helped soothe her. Aaron showed her some toys to help distract her, and he even got a couple smiles out of her :) I am just so glad it is over! I know she is, too!

We decided to have Faith get her first flu shot because of how rampant the virus has been spreading already this winter. The pediatrician said that just before seeing us, she was with a child that has the flu. Scary. The flu is so contagious, and she just walked in to see us right after seeing a child with the flu! I think it’s inevitable that we will be exposed to the flu virus, especially since it spreads through the air; sneezing, and coughing. I just hope the flu vaccine that Faith, me, and Aaron got will keep us healthy. However, I know it may not keep us from getting the flu. The nurse mentioned that a child did recently contract a different flu strain, after being vaccinated. So, unfortunately, there is a different strain of flu out there. All that’s left now is a hope and a prayer that we stay healthy.

One last thing I wanted to mention. While talking with the nurse, before we seen the pediatrician, she asked us some standard preliminary questions. One of them was, “Do you have any concerns with your daughter? Anything abnormal?” Aaron blurted out, “Well she is always doing algebra. We don’t know what to do about that….” The nurse had a serious look for a couple seconds, then burst out laughing. When she recovered from her fit of giggles, and tried to continue with her questions, she started laughing hysterically again! My God, her face was turning red. Yes, my hubby is hilarious :)

My tough daughter ♥ She survived another round of shots! You go girl! Mommy and Daddy are super proud!!! :)