Today was interesting. I was ready to leave for the pediatrician’s office 45 minutes before I had to – that never happens – a) because I’m Greek and we have a different clock than the rest of the world and b) I was born late (literally 2 weeks late).
However, that 45 minutes goes by quickly when you take your baby back out of the car seat to change him. I still wound up 10 minutes early so I am hoping I am turning over a new leaf.
Bennett did awesome today. He grew 3 inches!! His head grew an inch and he now weighs 10 lbs 8 oz. That is double his birth weight.
He also got vaccinations today – BOO! When we got home from the Dr.’s office I put Benny down for a nap and around 3pm he got up and was screaming. I thought he needed a diaper change so I proceeded to undo his sleeper and noticed his left thigh was bright red and puffy – so naturally I freaked out – we called the pediatrician and they said that was a natural reaction.
Still, there is something inside of me that doesn’t feel right about all these vaccinations. My husband absolutely believes in them and so do my parents. My father asked me “what was the alternative” if he didn’t get the vaccinations – he said “putting him at higher risk?” I think I just need to become better educated about all of these, some of them seem preposterous to me and I blame myself for not being as educated about the subject as I would like.
What are your feelings and thoughts on vaccinations – what have you chosen to do and why?
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Poor little Benny!
Of course, I can’t yet comment as a parent dealing with this decision, but as a person who has recently changed career fields into healthcare, I certainly have opinions from an entirely practical side. I was vaccinated as a child, and all the vaccinations I needed just to begin my clinical rotations required that I look up my old family Dr’s office and have all of my fading, handwritten pediatric records pulled from their storage and faxed to me. In addition, I got several more series of shots. I even had to give written reason why I only had 1 series of MMR when I was a toddler instead of 2… Beats me! That acquisition process was painful enough, but if I hadn’t been vaccinated, I would have had to go through it all as an adult…
This year, my hospital made the flu shot a requirement for all employees in patient care – those that refused must wear a mask in all potential patient contact areas (pretty much everywhere but the cafeteria). I deal with patients all day every day, and I couldn’t imagine a mask instilling much confidence in my care for them. Alas, I got my first flu shot this year and had very little reaction, but I don’t think I would have if it weren’t a requirement.
Thanks Kirstin for your comment and readership! Wow what a process, thanks for sharing. I’m in a “knock on wood” kind of situation about the flu shot – haven’t gotten it. All doctors highly recommend that you get it and new mothers especially. My parents get the flu shot every year and they always seem to get sick – again – I need to become more educated on this subject because it has never really mattered to me until now.
Check out The Panic Virus by Seth Mnookin. I heard good things about it.
Thanks Valerie, will do! @Valerie Bast
Definitely educate yourself, but be careful and smart about what you read. As with everything, look for the research not just opinions. :o) Love you, Lib!
Thanks Jen!
BTW- I never read that book but was referred to it by a friend when I was struggling with my decision too. I ended up having a loooong talk with my pediatrician about it and did a ton of research too. There is just way too much conflicting stuff out there that will overwhelm you. Definitely read up on it and have a conversation with Mike. I think vaccinations is one of the most nerve wracking decisions for a new parent. You hear so many things about them! I have also heard some people doing the Sears method of delaying certain vaccinations which has its pros and cons. After you do some research maybe you and Mike can see if your pediatrician can sit down with you and have a chat about it and get any of your questions and concerns answered. That helped me a ton. Good luck momma! You are doing such a great job already!
Awesome insight, thank you! And thank you for the kind words :).
So this is a difficult subject. I have friends who do all of the shots and I have others who do none. I did my research and also read Dr. Sears book on vaccinating. I decided to vaccinate, but on a select schedule where they get all the shots, just nit so many at each visit. So for example Cash is all caught up on his shots at age 3 but it was just took a little more time ex: shots almost at every visit (3 per visit). I did skip the contraversal MMR vaccine only because I am still not sold on the effects it may have on kids. All the research says it is completely safe, but with me working with special needs children and hearing by many parents they just changed after a certain vaccine- simply scared the crap out of me. SO long story short- research, but stick to your guns. I love my pediatrician, but I get an earful when I delay shots because she does not agree– I just stick with it even though I deep down wonder—am I hurting my child?! Us mommas just want the best for our little love bugs and this topic is always a tuff one 🙂
I was curious about that – I know you did the select scheduling. I’ve got to read up on the MMR – because that scares me too! Mike is just such a believer. I mean I am not going to be buying diseased lollipops out of some guys trunk but I just want to understand them better. Dr. Kertz did say that the research study on the vaccinations that said they caused autism was basically done by some crazy and not even accurate and it caused a lot of parents to freak out. Ugh! There are so many other things we have to worry about as parents, this is just such a tough one. @Ecopland
@libertyt@Ecopland I had a friend wait on the MMR vaccine until after her kids were two years old. She did this because she wanted no doubt about the vaccines did not cause autism in her kids and autism is typically diagnosed around 2 years old. Her husband is a doctor and their kids are fully vaccinated. It’s definitely a tough subject! I might pick up the Dr. Sears book. I’ve been avoiding reading about this stuff because I just dont know what to believe anymore! And Lib, you’re right, there was some guy that did a bunch of “research” and “linked” autism to vaccines. Turned out he just made it all up! So hard to know who to believe these days. I have been vaccinating our kids. There is part of me that is totally freaked out about those who are not vaccinating their kids too. All of these serious diseases have essentially removed from our society and not vaccinating could really put kids at risk for them in the future. It’s tough.