Harper's First Vaccinations Next Week

Harper is getting her first vaccinations next week when she's 8 weeks old (seriously, how has time passed so quickly?!) and I'm so scared (more for me, than for her). I remember how many heel pricks she had to get in the hospital and at the pediatrician's office to check her billiruben levels and it hurts my heart that she's going to feel pain again when she gets the shots. Please feel free to share your tips on how you soothed your baby after his or her first set of vaccines. I'm all ears!

One thing I'm excited about is that we can finally take her out once she's vaccinated. As new parents, we personally felt more comfortable limiting Harper's exposure to busy places. We've taken her to the pediatrician, to the hospital where I delivered her to work with a lactation consultant and on walks in our neighborhood, and that's pretty much it.  Our pediatrician also thought this was the best route, especially since Harper was having trouble gaining weight initially so he wanted me to focus on being at home and breastfeeding on demand and pumping. I know most parents take their newborns places before they are vaccinated but we just felt more comfortable having her at home until she got her shots. I think having her spend time in the NICU and my own hospitalization sort of freaked me out about taking her places anyway.

In celebration of all of the things Harper will be able to do once she's vaccinated, an online friend of mine created the hilarious images below!

Enjoying the elephants at the zoo (it's like she's part of the pack!)

At the winter Olympics. No.Big.Deal.

At the club.

With BFF Suri.

Parachuting like a champion.

Swimming with the dolphins. She's a natural.

Running with the bulls.

At Harvard. LOL.

Now, lets be serious, we're really just looking forward to taking her out with us to have lunch at some of our favorite places and to run weekend errands (you know, normal things). It's so hot in Houston that it's hard to be outdoors for a long time, especially for a baby, so I'm actually looking forward to it cooling down a bit because we would love going for long walks with her. I did purchase this stroller fan which I've used on some of our evening walks, but I don't think it would cut it during the day in this heat.

Wishing everyone a fabulous week!