Shaken baby syndrome and Vaccinations: Similar Symptoms

Ok so the day Meili got her shots, she stopped babbling. She didn't get a fever or become more irritable (than usual anyways). But she completely ceased vocalizing. She had very watery stools for two days but none of the horrible flatulence or apparent tummy discomfort. 

By day seven after the shots she still wasn't talking. She'd also seemed not to be responding to my voice anymore. No smiles for Mama. And was so lethargic, gazing vacantly at nothing in particular. She also didn't seem motivated to roll at all. And she'd been choking on her own saliva quite often, plus vomiting (which she hadn't done before). 

I just felt something was off. I got worried. 

Googling vaccination side effects interestingly brought up Shaken. Baby Syndrome (SBS). Apparently many of the symptoms of SBS are similar to vaccination side effects. 

According to MedlinePlus:

The symptoms can vary from mild to severe. They may include:

• Convulsions (seizures)
• Decreased alertness
• Extreme irritability or other changes in behavior
• Lethargy, sleepiness, not smiling
• Loss of consciousness
• Loss of vision
• No breathing
• Pale or bluish skin
• Poor feeding, lack of appetite
• Vomiting

So I worried. It totally didn't help that I read the statistics of over 600 babies dying in 2007, after receiving their shots. More than 30% died within two hours, and deaths were reported up to a week after. http://www.nvic.org/Doctors-Corner/Edward-Yazbak/Multiple-Vaccinations-and-the-Shaken-Baby-Syndrome.aspx

Meili first real playdate

Sept 5. Kyra came over to help watch Meili while I try to rest. This was meili's first real interaction with another baby. Sylvis is five days younger than her, but weighs nearly 20 lbs! He is so affectionate and loves other babies. He kissed her a bunch of times. In return Meili puked on his foot. So he also puked on her hair. It was all very sweet. 

More Immunizations

Sept 3 meili's four month wellness visit plus shots didn't turn out so bad after all. She measured 25.5" long (91st percentile) and 12 lb 12 oz (26th percentile), pretty much where she has been all this while percentile-wise. Her pediatrician Danika Wallace is super sweet and so wonderfully gentle with her. Spencer and I like her a lot and I think Meili doesn't mind her either hehe. 

Unlike the previous rotavirus oral vaccine where Meili suffered all the side effects listed for the nasty vaccine (diarrhea and flatulence for three days), this time - nothing much. She didn't seem to get a temperature either. She might or might not have been fussy - hard to tell apart from her somewhat unpredictable fussy spells.