So my poor Aunt Sue has Shingles. Which, if you don't know, is the manifestation of the chicken pox virus in adults who have already had chicken pox. This is important for a few reasons. First, Owen has not been vaccinated against chicken pox and spent all morning hanging out at Sue's house while Eric did some work over there. Second, nobody can seem to remember for SURE if I've had the chicken pox or not (although I am 99% certain I have). Apparently chicken pox is a very BAD thing to get when you're pregnant, so of course I totally freaked out. Before Eric and Owen got home from Sue's I had already talked to my midwife who advised me to go get blood drawn right away to make sure I was, in fact, immune to the virus. Because if I'm NOT, I would need to stay far away from Owen until he either got and recovered from the pox, or until we knew he didn't have it. So I packed an overnight bag and headed to the lab. Luckily before I took off for my parents, Eric called the pediatrician who told us that unless Owen was exposed to Sue (not her couch, but actually HER), today, after her rash appeared, there was no way he was going to get the pox, so I didn't need to worry. PHEW.
Needless to say I still went up to the lab to have my blood drawn so I know for future reference if I'm immune to the virus. But now I'm back home, not quarantined at my parent's house.
Several people are probably going to wonder why I haven't vaccinated Owen for the chicken pox. And there's no response that won't make me sound a bit like a crazy person. I'm not one of those parents who panics about vaccines, although I have been very selective about how and when Owen has received his vaccines (and he has received almost all of them). Back during his first year I read something, somewhere, about a potential link between the chicken pox vaccine and Multiple Sclerosis. Probably in a Dr. Sears book (I know). But given that my mom has MS, that has sort-of stuck with me, and I've been weighing the pros and cons of Owen getting the chicken pox, vs. this unproven and unresearched connection between the vaccine and MS. I bounce back and forth between: it's the chicken pox, we all had it as kids (I think?) and we all survived it just fine; vs. my paranoia about this weird potential connection with a very scary disease. There's also the fact that the minuscule percentage of kids for which chicken pox ends up being fatal, appear to all suffer respiratory complications, which Owen has struggled with his whole life. Needless to say, it's messed with my head a bit. Which is crazy. Cause it's just the chicken pox, right?
In other, more light-hearted updates, here are a few shots of us in our backyard last night. My parents and Eric did an AWESOME job of digging up all the nasty, overgrown ground cover and out-of-control shrubs that were in our little garden. The hydrangeas (my FAVORITE) were, luckily, already there! And we planted a few begonias and geraniums just to add some color for the remainder of the summer. In conjunction with the new patio umbrella and the positioning of the swing, we have a nice, cozy little spot to have dinner/drinks and just hang out as a family. I have big plans for the garden for next year, including some ornamental grasses, some bright coleus, and a bunch more flowers.
Despite my lack of make-up (and sun, yikes), we take a pretty good picture, eh?
Upcoming excitement for the weekend: new couch delivered tomorrow (finally), and a trip to Target with Kristie on Sunday (since we discovered they have wheelchairs I can be pushed around in, Target is a reality for me once again, hooray)!
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