To Flu Shot or Not To Flu Shot?

I have been leary of the flu shot for a long time. I obsess about it for weeks during the flu shot season . . . I go back and forth between thinking that there is no way I am going to get a vaccine for something that probably won't happen to me and thinking about the extreme guilt I'd feel if one of my kids got really sick with the flu and I hadn't taken them to get the flu shot.

Jenna, Abby, and I have had a flu shot every year since I was pregnant with Jenna. The guilt always wins out, but not before I obsess about it and wait until the very, very last day to get one.

But this year, I was one of the first ones in line to get the flu shot when it was offered by our health care provider. And I even made Nate come:)

Why this turn around? So glad you asked:) Last year, Nate got the flu. Not a 24 hour fever with some chills, but the full blown "I can't get out of bed for five days because I am exhausted, achy, and feverish" flu that immediately went to pneumonia that took two rounds of antibiotics to get rid of. I have never seen him so sick. It wasn't the flu that scared me, but the pneumonia that was so dangerous. He got so sick so fast. And after he was cleared up, he still had to use an inhaler because fluid kept building up in his lungs. Fun stuff:)

Now that we've seen the effects of the regular flu and that Nate is more susceptible to pneumonia because he's had it, I marched all four of us to the dr's office to get the flu shot.

I'm interested in hearing other people's thoughts on the flu shot . . . and also the swine flu shot. Are you going to get it? Why or why not?

I am not sure what we are going to do about the swine flu shot. A part of me isn't comfortable with the fact that it is so new and hasn't been tested for long enough to make sure it's safe, but the other part of me doesn't like the idea of death associated with the swine flu. I know it's rare, but if it's "safe" like the seasonal flu shot, than why not?

My mind isn't made up yet, but I really want to know what you all think about it.

Feel free to comment!