These immunisations consisted of 2 injections… one which was a combination of DTap/IPV/Hib and the other was PCV. In English, that’s Diptheria, Tetanus and Whooping Cough in one injection and Pneumococcal in the other. She has to go back for some more icky injections in 4 weeks. Great.

For those of us who aren’t familiar with these diseases, I’ve written about them below. Quite handy for us non-medical types!

Diptheria: An upper respiratory tract illness, characterised by a sore throat, fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils/larynx/nostril. The illness can cause a degeneration in motor control and loss of sensation. It’s contagious, but is largely wiped out now, due to these immunisations our little mites get. They are immunised for this at 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks and also between 3 and 5 years.

Tetanus: Also known as Lockjaw, it involves the prolonged contraction of your skeletal muscle fibres causing massive muscle spasms. It’s caused by a funky little bacteria, called Clostridium tetani. Nasty little buggers.

Whooping Cough: This one’s also highly contagious, and is caused by another bacteria, called Bordetella pertussis. It can normally be detected by the cough – you start off with an uncontrollable fit of coughing, rounded off with a high-pitched “whoop”, as you struggle to breathe air in afterwards. It’s not very common in the UK nowadays, but is still common in the third world and Canada, as well as the occasional outbreak elsewhere.

Pneumococcal: Yet another illness caused by bacteria – Streptococcus pneumoniae. It’s a major cause of pneumonia as well as many other illnesses, so it’s another one that’s handy to be immunised against. One of the main reasons babies are immunised against it, is because the bacteria is a common cause of bacterial meningitis.

So, although it’s not a pleasant experience, taking your baby to the doctors to be stabbed twice with ‘orrible sharp needles, is most certainly beneficial. If this is the way to prevent my girl from getting any of these nasties, then I’m happy to deal with the crying afterwards. It’s nothing a bit of Calpol won’t be able to fix anyway (if I don’t drink it all, that is).