After near-death swine flu experience, one mom gets her toddlers the swine flu vaccine

Last summer, one CafeMom personally endured a swine flu horror story at 34 weeks pregnant. Although, she and her now four-month old daughter Molly are fine today, they both survived a flu-driven nightmare no family ever wants to face.

So this mom is here today to share her story and talk about her decision to get her two toddler daughters the swine flu vaccination.

You, yourself, recently had a horrific near-death experience with the swine flu while you were 34 weeks pregnant with your daughter Molly. Can you tell us a little bit about that experience?

I started getting sick with the flu in the middle of May 2009. I went to the doctor over and over and was given fluids and sent home. They did not listen when I said my chest hurt and I was having trouble breathing. They kept saying it was a virus and sending me home with no antibiotics or meds.

After two weeks of this, on Monday June 1st, I was sooo sick and went back to the doctor. This time it was a new doctor, and he listened to me. Actually he freaked out cause my oxygen stats were SO low. They were 65 and normal is in the 90s. So he called an ambulance, and they rushed me to the hospital! I kept going in and out of consciousness.

When I got to the ER, they did an X-ray and found I had acute pneumonia and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), so they had to intubate me (put a breathing tube down my throat). That is the last thing I remember for a month. Everything else that happened has been told to me because they had to put me into a medically induced coma in the ICU. They had no protocol to follow for a pregnant woman with ARDS and pneumonia, so they tried many different respirators. I have been told my stats crashed, and I almost died four different times.

At this point, they needed to get the baby out but worried the C-section could kill me...

Read the rest of this feature on CafeMom.

Written by Sheri Reed for CafeMom's Toddler Buzz


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Find more great information in the CafeMom Swine Flu Guide.

Swine Flu Vaccine: Is Your Toddler Getting One?

Swine Flu Kills Toddler -- First Victim in U.S.

Swine Flu Risk for Toddlers: What a Top Expert Told Me

Why One Mom Will Not Get the Swine Flu Vaccine