Have I told you yet that Cory's favorite color is red? You wouldn't think it would be possible, but there it is! And we've known it for quite awhile. He gets distracted when nursing in the car because of the red Chinese tassel thing hanging off the rearview mirror. And tonight when I set him up to burp there was a red blanket laying over the arm of the couch. He went for it with intense focus! It was so cute! He also really likes his Elmo book...
Today I've been seeing red... as in freaking out... just a little bit.
I was reading a post on another blog about a mom having to prove that she didn't have to vaccinate her kids for them to be in pre-school. That reminded me that I've been thinking about this off an on. That there are some people who think there's a link between the MMR vaccine and increased rates of autism. There hasn't been any definitive proof that the 2 are linked, but they haven't dis-proved it either. (Just so you know that vaccine isn't recommended until they're 1 year so I've got time to research - and worry)
Most of the reasons they think there's a link is because of a preservative called Thimerosal which has a lot of mercury in it. Now tell me, why on God's green earth are they still using mercury when they know how bad it is? And in little babies shots?!!! However I do know that there are a couple of different versions of this MMR shot and not all of them have the Thimerosal in them. So now I just have to make extra sure that my doctor's office isn't using one...
But I've also been thinking, why in the world do they have to give so many shots when the babies are so young? They wanted to give Cory a Hepatitis B shot in the hospital when he was born! Hello, that's a blood borne disease? Where's he going to get it when he's staying home with me?
Some vaccines I have no problems with, Polio? You bet I'm gonna get him vaccinated for it. But chicken pox? Not so sure. For one thing it's a very new vaccine. For another thing chicken pox and even shingles while painful are not debilitating diseases last time I checked.
Plus I just think that giving a 2 month old baby 5 different vaccines all at once is not quite right. It just makes them horribly miserable and seems a little hard on their tiny bodies. I don't know, please don't quote me as authority, but I think they should space them out a bit. Especially since then there's no way to know if they have a reaction which one it was to.
I'm thinking that I'm going to have them wait to start any more rounds of shots until he's a little older. He has one more set to finish the Hep B, Polio, and DTaP and they are supposed to be given within a certain frame of time. But no new ones until later.
But needless to say I was fretting over this all day and of course when Brian came home we had to have a giant argument about it. I wasn't seeing straight because all I could think of was my precious baby being all cute and interactive one day and then after shots turning anti-social. I'm not sure I could handle it. So yes, I was freaking out.
Which reminds me, who do I think I am in control of everything anyway? Didn't I learn this way back in Costa Rica in 2001? That freaking out about all the what-ifs in the future gets you NO WHERE?!!! Didn't I get a dove tattoo to remind me that Jesus brings PEACE to my heart and my life!
So let me see, 1) I'm not going to stick my head in the sand, I will do research and be cautious, but 2) I am not in control over my life let alone any possible circumstances that could hurt my baby. 3) I will now proceed to try to calm down and be rational. Every time I start to think about it I will pray. For other people like Amy's family who have to deal with real things that could freak you out.
Krista,
ReplyDeleteHi, its Leah Perez. Maybe you didn't know that I read your blog, but I love seeing pictures of Cory - he IS adorable!
I totally understand how you are feeling about the vaccinations. Has Cory had his first round yet? (Here they give the first round at 2 months). If he did fine with those, he will probably do fine with the boosters for the same vaccines (here it is 4 and 6 months). The MMR IS controversial, and you'll have to do your own research on that.
Mostly I wanted to comment on the chicken pox vaccine. Here it is not mandatory and we also didn't think it was necessary. So we didn't vaccinate the girls on that. Lo and behold, Emily came home from school on her 6th birthday with the pox! She had a very mild case and we thought - "See? No big deal." Two weeks later Karina got them and she got them for real. She had a lot on her scalp and in her privates. But still, the worst of it was only a few days and she was feeling better. But then - 3 weeks later - Annelise broke out with the worst case of chicken pox I have ever seen in my life. I should send you pictures. And she was only 12.5 months old. She didn't understand why she was so miserable and I couldn't tell her not to scratch. She had fever and I was worried about encephalitis and her pox getting infected (because I couldn't always stop her from scratching). We were also really worried about scarring, which thankfully didn't happen. She suffered for a good ten days. Anyway, all this to say - think about getting Cory the vaccine. If not to protect him, then to protect his future siblings!
Just another point of view to think about. You have to do what you feel is best for your kiddos.
love,
Leah
Hi Krista,
ReplyDeleteI'm finally getting caught up on your blog. I LOVE the pictures (of course!), and hearing what you're thinking about. I'm glad you have plenty of time to research vaccinations. Of course working in public health I think it's vitally important that most of a population gets vaccinated (herd immunity)... but I understand it is a difficult issue.
I miss Cory heaps already-- give him a big kiss for me!
love
(Aunt) Allison
I got the chicken pox when I was 16 and was almost hospitalized with a 105 degree fever. I had them EVERYWHERE, including my eye balls and up my nose. It was horrible. My kids got the vaccine.
ReplyDeleteObviously you have to do what's best for you, but I think it's good that you are doing research before making snap decisions.
Good reminder about worrying, Krista. Thanks for writing. That's a really cool story about your dove tattoo...maybe I need one, too.
ReplyDelete