H1N1

H1N1 is obviously a hot topic right now. And in all honesty, some days it has my head spinning. I've been trying not to freak too much about it, and if I didn't have a young baby I probably wouldn't be. But now there is someone in our lives who is especially vulnerable, and I feel like I need to protect her. But at the same time I don't want to be obsessive.

Vaccines:
I am not one of those people who are overly concerned with vaccines, and I really don't think vaccines are the main cause of things like autism. Although there is risk with anything you do, I don't think there is this HUGE risk of getting the vaccine. A small risk yes, but in my opinion, the pros for getting it, outweigh the cons.

So, because my little girl is less then 6 months old and can't get it, my husband and I decided to get the vaccine. For us, in the end it was the right thing to do. It's helping, we feel, in some small way.

The other issue I have is how much we should be avoiding public places with her. I had been taking her to Mother goose play times, and swimming lessons. I've stopped that for the last few weeks. But now I'm wondering if more good then bad would come out of me venturing back into the world.
I've been thinking of the Pros and Cons of joining up in baby groups again.

Cons

• potentially come in contact with kids/adults/objects that are contaminated with H1N1 or other nasty bugs
• OHH potentially contracts a bad virus and gets really sick....or worse.
  

Pros

• Social interaction for OHHH
• Gets OHHH used to other people.
  
• Social interaction for MaMa (which might help to prevent again Seasonal affective Disorder)
• Gets both OHHH and MaMa out of the house!

So on one hand it could POTENTIALLY be really bad, but on the other it's a guarantee to be beneficial. This makes me think I should take the risk and get both of us out there again.

I am happy though that I'm not completely obsessed. I have found a network of wonderful ladies through some prenatal aquafit classes with whom we are still occasionally getting together with our babies. For some reason this doesn't freak me out. Maybe it's because I know them, and am pretty confident that they wouldn't be getting together if they knew they were sick.

I'm finding that being a mom puts so much much more weight on my shoulders when making these decisions. If it was just me, I wouldn't care as much, but now with my little girl, it's my job to protect her, and I'm just so afraid of making the wrong decisions!

In my mind I know it's probably better to take her out, but I just keep getting those "what IF" thoughts.

What I've learned:
Do what YOU think it best. Don't worry about what others are doing for their children. And don't judge other moms for their decisions. Everyone has their own comfort level and there is nothing wrong or right as long as your baby is happy and safe.