William's H1N1 Vaccine Adventure

First, let me just say that I am a proponent of vaccinations. If you can't tell by this post, I will go to great lengths to protect my family by having them vaccinated. I am so grateful for them! Last season Wills was lucky enough to receive the Synagis shot (the shot to protect him from RSV) and that afforded us much peace and comfort. This season we have been concerned about the flu, especially H1N1. Last week I started calling places to see if they had any flu vaccines. To my surprise, every place I called was out and did not know when they would be getting any more of the seasonal flu shot or the H1N1 shot. I heard later in the week that the Health Department received a shipment and was scheduled to hold a clinic on Tuesday to give it to a select group of people (William was included). So, William and I went to get him vaccinated. Nathan woke him up 2 hours earlier than usual and told him he was going to "Shot-land" not Disneyland. We got to the Health Department a little while before they were scheduled to open and found hundreds, maybe even thousands of people camped out and already in line! We had to park several blocks away. It was crazy!!
This is William waiting in line while eating his breakfast.
He was such a good sport!! I was so proud of him. He even slept for about an hour. The high for today was 42 degrees! It was freezing and we were outside for so long!
A small glimpse of the crowds
There were so many people there. This is the second level of the parking garage. The line went from the first level down to the second and then back up and down again before it finally went down the sidewalk and into the building.
A visit from Daddy at hour #4 in line!!
After we had been in line for 4 hours Nathan came to lift our spirits. He brought us warm lunch and hot chocolate. I don't think I have ever been more happy to have a hot meal and hot chocolate. He was a lifesaver!

After 4 1/2 hours we finally made it to the front of the line and William got his shot! He didn't even cry. I couldn't believe it. To call this experience an adventure is optimistic. It was pretty miserable, but well worth it for Wills to be protected. After 2 weeks the vaccine takes its full effect. Hopefully the rest of the world will be able to get their chance to be vaccinated soon. When we finally got back to the car it started snowing pretty hard. I was so glad we were done!!! (You may think I'm crazy, but keeping him healthy is a big deal to us. We have spent way too much time in the hospital.)

Comments

Amanda said…
That whole thing is so crazy! Definitely not as much fun as Disneyland or Nordstrom Rack opening. But still worth it. Ah the sacrifices you make for little Wills. Sorry my work meeting decided to go 3 hours today. At one point my boss looked at me and said, "Amanda, you look like you wanna say something." And I said, "Yes, I'm hungry. This is too long." haha. Anyways, glad you didn't freeze and glad it worked out!
Michelle said…
Wow, he didn't even cry when he got the shot?! Glad it all worked out for him to get his vaccination.
Heather said…
You HAVE spent too much time in the hospital. We got our flu shots, but not the H1N1 shot yet. I guess we will see...