Immunization tears

At birth, Tino was administered with two vaccination shots on either thigh to protect her from Hepatitis B. When she was one week old, we took her back to the hospital for her next dose of pain and tears. This time it was for BCG (Bacille Calmette-Guerin) to protect her from serious forms of Tuberculosis.

Before her shot, she had her well-baby check with Dr John Adams, the hospital paediatrician. Everything is perfect, he told us. However, her navel was slightly infected because water had accidentally gotten into it (remember at this stage a tiny part of the cord was still attached to her nacl with a clip and it was supposed to eventually dry and fall off, and voila, a nice tiny puke). He prescribed an antibiotic for it.

She was also looking slightly yellow, meaning she had jaundice. John said he wanted to have her blood tested first for the amount of bilirubin in her blood. Bilirubin being a yellowish-red pigment found in the bloodstream. When in excess, the skin colour turns yellow. So my baby was pricked in the big toe for blood. She screamed and a tear came trickling down her cheek. Poor baby. We waited for the results. 20 minutes later, John came back and said she was fine. The jaundice was caused by our different bloody types. Mine is O and Tino's is AB. All she needs is a little sunlight every day and the colour will return to normal.

And now for her BCG shot to her left upper arm. Yes it's the scar that we all have on our arms. Baby took it well. She cried pitifully for about 30 seconds and then decided that it didn't hurt that much. Coz she's a tough little cookie.