Hello Everyone! My name is Angela and Carol & Randi asked me to document my experience in receiving the Covid-19 vaccine. I was a Surrogate and delivered last year in September 2020. You can read more about that https://www.buildingfamiliesinc.com/en/2020/09/angies-birth-story/.
I am a clinical laboratory scientist and work daily with body fluids including urine, blood and respiratory samples. The clinic where I work most often has begun limited testing for covid-19 infection and I am excited, from a scientist’s perspective, to be a part of this ground-breaking and live-saving work!! I jumped on the offer to receive the Covid-19 vaccine when it was offered to me.
My first dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine was on 12/29/2020 at about noon. I was asked to wait for 15 minutes after the dose was administered so they could observe me for any adverse reactions. Thankfully, I felt completely normal the rest of the day. The next morning, however, my arm was sore and I had a small lump and some redness at the injection site. It was no worse than when I get my flu shot every year. But, at around 36 hours after the first dose I was totally exhausted and had very little appetite. I assume this was because my immune system was hard at work pumping out as many antibodies as quickly as it could. By two days after the first dose I was back to feeling normal. Side note, I was still pumping breast milk and donating to a local bank.
I was able to maintain my breast milk supply just as before the vaccine. My second dose of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine was on 1/27/2021 at about 9:30 in the morning. I was again asked to wait for 15 minutes after the dose was administered so they could observe me for adverse reactions and again, thankfully I was fine. I loved seeing all the 75+ year old members wearing their masks and sitting 6 feet apart after receiving their vaccines. It filled me with so much hope that maybe the end to the worst part of this global pandemic is finally in sight.
About 12 hours after my second dose is when I started to feel really tired again, so I went to bed early. Around 11pm I woke up with chills and body aches, much like the flu. I alternated freezing chills with overheating in sweat for the next couple of hours but did eventually sleep. The next morning I had a headache and felt achy and tired like recovering from the flu. I took a dose of Advil and began to feel much better. By the second day, I was again back to normal. And now, almost 2 weeks after receiving the second dose of vaccine I am feeling great! I am so thankful to have been given this vaccine to help keep myself and my family safe.
More to follow!!!
