2 years and 3 months ago, the world shut down. We first heard the words “social distancing”. The next week, my grandfather was found unresponsive alone in his home a couple of weeks after a trip to Florida. He spent two weeks on a ventilator, but never woke up. There was…
no such thing as a COVID test. Looking back, he clearly had COVID. Back then, we had no idea how fast it was spreading or how deadly it was. The hospital allowed no visitors until it was his time. His 3 adult children were permitted to see him. The rest of us said goodbye…
Via FaceTime, something that seemed so strange at the time. My grandpa deserved so much more. The funeral home capped at 10 attendees. I couldn’t risk attending my own grandpa’s funeral for fear I would endanger my immediate family, including my…
then 9-month-old daughter. From there, Hell broke loose. I was effectively laid off from my job in healthcare. We were completely isolated from family and friends. We hoped we would be able to celebrate a first Easter with family, and throw my daughter a first birthday party…
But those things couldn’t happen. Milestones we’d been looking forward to celebrating as first time parents our entire lives were stolen from us. Hearts were broken as we watched family throw caution to the wind, and refuse to make small sacrifices (like masking) that would…
have enabled us to share these experiences. We also feared for the safety of these loved ones, and of those around them. Lines were crossed. Arguments were had. My husband and I had to learn to set and establish firm boundaries with those around us. After all, it wasn’t going…
to be like this much longer, we told ourselves. We continued to isolate. We did everything we could to keep our baby safe. We skipped the pumpkin patch, and meeting Santa Claus. We took one vacation, visiting my parents in Florida (15 hours in a car with a 15 month old & two…
dogs…yikes). We sadly accepted that Thanksgiving and Christmas would like be no goes with our extended family. We watched with our breath held as close family and friends caught COVID. Some of our extended family didn’t make it. We cried when we learned they…
decided to celebrate Christmas together anyway. Without a few of us. We found out a couple of days later that we were expecting baby #2. As a healthcare worker, I was scheduled to receive the first dose of the brand new COVID vaccine just three days later. There was literally…
ZERO guidance. My OB said it was my choice. We talked. We prayed. Hard. We decided to move forward - we were more afraid of getting COVID while pregnant than the vaccine, and wanted to keep our daughter safe. I got my 1st moderna vaccine at 4 weeks pregnant, the 2nd at 8 weeks...
The 2nd shot was awful as I was at the height of my morning sickness. I diligently completed my V-safe tracking info. A few weeks later, I received a call from the @CDCgov, asking if they could track my pregnancy and obtain copies of my medical records. I felt like a lab rat…
But I obliged. I held my breath through those first few ultrasounds, as any new expecting mother does. Thankfully, my baby boy was growing and developing right on track. We were so grateful to God and breathed huge sighs of relief as more and more data became available that…
supported the impossible decision we had been forced to make. We continued to do everything we could to keep our family safe. We ordered in all our groceries. Only left the house for work and doctors appointments. As more of our extended family was able to become vaccinated…
we were able to open up our doors a bit more. But we held firm that no one who was unvaccinated would be indoors unmasked with our daughter, or with pregnant me. We were able to hold a 2nd birthday party, masked and outdoors for my baby girl.
My husband was finally able to get his vaccine. Things were looking up. Until we realized just how many of our family and friends weren’t planning on vaccinating. Many were totally respectful and understanding of our wishes and we tried to grant them the same. However, some…
weren’t. Meanwhile, the rest of the world moved into “hot vaxxed summer” while families with kids sat waiting. They had promised us vaccines in September. We were hopeful that our toddler would be able to get vaccinated in time for our new baby to be born. Then Delta happened…
Delta started ravaging our population. At the same time, we were blessed with a perfectly healthy and beautiful baby boy. We were permitted no visitors in the hospital, except for spouses/partners. I labored in a mask until it was time to push. Suddenly, we were more…
vulnerable than we’d ever been, with brand new 37 weeker at home with our still unvaccinated toddler, in the middle of a massive COVID surge. We were forced to isolate again. We permitted only masked grandparents to meet our son for the first few months. We gradually…
introduced him to extended family over the first 3-6 months of his life. Meanwhile, we watched with elation and terrible jealousy as vaccines were approved for 5-11 year olds. Most parents and children had been given their normalcy back. Not us. We cried as they talked…
about December for the littlest kids. Knowing it would mean another Thanksgiving and Christmas away from family and friends. Another year of missing out. But we did what we felt we needed to do to keep our children safe. We faced long days of balancing working from…
home for dad and evenings in healthcare for mom, managing two under two, sleepless nights, and exclusively pumping for as long as I could to try and give my baby antibodies from my booster shot. Enter Omicron. Everything changed again…
We watched as more and more of our extended family, including littles, got COVID. Some for the second time. Back into isolation we went, still waiting for the vaccine to protect our babies that would now come “in the first half of 2022”. I watched as my patients got sicker…
and sicker. I did everything I could to protect myself at work. I invested in N95s for my family. I started researching for updates and advocacy outlets, and discovered @MamaWeasleyy. She has undoubtedly been my biggest saving grace through the last six months. I found I …
could rely on the information she provided more than anything I was able to learn from the news, government or regulating bodies. February came, and with it, the great news that the @US_FDA had asked @pfizer to submit its data for an EUA. This was it. Finally, my kids were…
going to get the vaccine we’d been promised. We made plans. We bought plane tickets. We started envisioning life “after” COVID. And the , at the 11th hour, Pfizer reneged. I broke down in tears. All I wanted was to be able to protect my kids from this stupid virus…
So the plans changed. And the vacation got postponed. And we watched every day for news, with very little hope after the Pfizer gut punch. I discovered more of the @ImmunizeUnder5s community and was grateful to find there were parents just like us all over the country…
trying to get the same protection for their kids that we so desperately wanted. It was such a relief knowing we weren’t alone in this despite the fact that the rest of the world seemed to have moved on and forgotten about us. Somehow we were the crazy ones for wanting to keep…
our kids from getting a potentially debilitating virus. Meanwhile, kids all over the world start developing *SUPER MYSTERIOUS* (heavy on the sarcasm) cases of hepatitis. Monkeypox is a thing outside of Africa. People in their twenties and thirties are having strokes and…
recurrences/complications from prior varicella, Epstein Barr, etc. infections. Long COVID clinics for children start to be established. COVID related hospitalization in kids skyrocket. Omicron evolves into several new strains while evading immunity from prior infection…
The @US_FDA @CDCgov and @WhiteHouse provide literally zero helpful information during this time. I came across an opportunity to enroll my kids in a @pfizer trial 2+ hours away. We decided that since no government entity seemed to be going to bat for us, we’d try to take…
matters into our own hands. We successfully got our kids enrolled in a trial, with our pediatrician’s blessing, beginning in May. During that time, @moderna_tx reports successful data and applies for an EUA. @FDACBER does nothing for several weeks, then sets a date of 6/8…
as a potential date to review it, totally disregarding the precedent set for all prior EUA submissions (avg. review time ~18-20 days). While we waited for them to get their ducks in a row, we made two visits to our trial site. 10 total hours of commuting for a 2/3 chance…
at getting our kids a vaccine. Our trial site in Ohio told us there were folks driving as far away as Chicago and St. Louis to participate. That’s how desperate parents had become. Finally, FINALLY, after pressure from the #ImmunizeUnder5s community, @COVIDOversight, etc.,…
we got our approval. With that approval, we got unblinded. We learned that BOTH of our kids received the placebo (only 1/9 odds). Tears were shed. But today, we were FINALLY able to immunize our two kids under 5. They received their first dose of @moderna, and I’m so grateful…
that we can finally start to close the book in this chapter of our lives. We did it. We successfully prevented our babies from catching COVID before they were able to be vaccinated. It’s been a VERY long 2.25 years. We’ve lost friends, family, experiences, memories, and Lord…
knows we’ve been incredibly fortunate. But at the end of the day, it was all worth it knowing that we were able to give our babies they very best protection we could in getting to this moment. We won’t be throwing caution to the wind, but I’m looking forward to this next chapter.
Sending all the thanks in the world to @MamaWeasleyy and @ImmunizeUnder5s. You helped keep me sane, informed, and a whole lot less alone throughout all of this. Thank you for the work that you did to help protect all of our children. God bless you. #ImmunizeUnder5s
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