I had my first vaccine on November 26th. I wasn’t overly happy about getting it, but the hospital made me feel as though I had to get it to be able to come to my antenatal appointments. I am currently 29 weeks pregnant with my third baby.
Within eight minutes of receiving the first vaccine I was showing signs of a reaction. My heart rate was majorly elevated, I was having trouble breathing, I was getting pins and needles down my arm and my hands were numb. I was dizzy, and within fifteen minutes my body was fully seizing and my skin was ice cold but I was sweating bullets.
The doctors called the ambulance within eleven minutes of this starting.
I was receiving massive doses of adrenaline, oxygen, fentanyl, Ventolin and a whole list of other things. My body was convulsing for two hours in total. The paramedics took around an hour to get me stable in order to transport me to hospital.
When I got into hospital the doctors tried to play it off as a panic attack. They then tried to play it off that I had come into contact with one of the things I’m allergic to. Then a whole list of other excuses came out of their mouths.
When I arrived at the hospital my heart rate was above 163 bpm, and my baby’s heart rate was 180 bpm. It took six hours before my heart rate came down to 93 bpm. My body was exhausted. After lengthy observation I was allowed to go home.
It was labelled as an atypical allergic reaction to the vaccine. But I am still being ‘forced’ to have my second without an exemption, or any further testing to find out what ingredients I could be allergic to. So, my baby and I are being put at risk a second time. Not only that, I’m due in eight weeks and I must have a C-section. This means I don’t have a choice but to get the second vaccine.
I have five kids, none of who will be receiving the vaccine. I hope that by sharing my story I can spread awareness, and let pregnant women out there know that it’s not worth the risk.