Vaccination fascination

Not necessarily regarding vaccinations . . . but wanted to drop you a line to wish you luck!! Best wishes, Brooke! Always enjoy reading your posts. Enjoy the days/weeks/months ahead . . . they go FAST!!!
One bit of advice I can give as a mom of a five-year-old (and as a writer, I'm SURE you can appreciate and likely already have plans for this) - keep a journal of some kind! Whether it be electronic or hand-written or both!! Cannot tell you how cool it is to reference back (by date) the years that have passed to remember the funny things our little one does or says that I would have otherwise forgotten about. ENJOY!! (and congrats, in advance!!)
Amy Buehler Stranges

Thanks so much Amy! I really appreciate it :) One day I am a nervous wreck and the next I am so excited I cannot contain myself! The journal is a GREAT idea! It never crossed my mind, so I am thankful that you mentioned it. - Brooke

I have a 2 1/2 year old daughter and a 4 month old daughter. I am a nurse and my husband is a pharmacist. I know a few people who refuse to get their children vaccines for whatever reason and that is their choice. If you have questions, you can go to the CDC website to get accurate answers to your questions. For me, it is a no brainer. As a mom, I feel my job is to protect my children the best I can. Nothing is 100% effective however, the past shows us that vaccines are effective. How many cases of TB or smallpox do you hear of these days? The fact is, diseases, flus, etc, can be deadly, especially to young children. The part where you mentioned a friend not letting her child around people who aren't vaccinated...this is recommended by the CDC and is referred to as "cocooning" your child. My 4 month old is too young to have the flu shot until 6 months, therefore, I will not allow her to be around anyone who hasn't received it-until she is old enough to receive it herself. It may seem overprotective, but she can't protect herself against it, therefore, I want to do what I can to protect her. I would feel terrible as a mom if she got the flu and it could have possibly been prevented. Just try to inform yourself as much as possible and feel confident in your decision. Congratulations and good luck!

Check out Dr. Sears's The Vaccine Book. As a pediatrician, he is obviously pro-vaccine. However, he is skeptical of our current vaccine schedule and the insane additives in the shots. He raises very legitimate concerns and is lobbying for adequate research in the medical world. I highly recommend the book and further research as Mom and/or Dad feels led! This is an extremely important topic to consider when selecting a pediatrician or family doctor as some practices will not see patients who delay or choose not to give vaccines.

As someone who studies the 19th century for a living, I have perhaps read more than the average person about diseases in a pre-vaccination moment in time. The number of people who died--or were permanently disfigured or disabled--from smallpox, whooping cough, polio, diphtheria, tuberculosis, or tetanus is horrifying. I think that because these diseases are so much less common these days (polio is nearly eradicated world-wide), it is easy to forget how serious they are. I always talk to my pediatrician about vaccines, and I think that if parents have concerns about how many vaccines are given at once, etc., it is always good to have a pediatrician who is open to an alternative vaccine schedule. But, personally, there is no way I would purposefully avoid protecting my children against the kinds of diseases that once helped keep the child mortality around 25% even for people who had adequate food and sanitation. I feel very grateful to have access to 21st century medicine.

With my first, which was just a few years ago, I knew there was some kind of controversy about vaccines. I could not imagine it had any validity and could not understand why anyone would want to opt out of "protecting" their child with immunizations. I was given Dr. Sears Vaccine book and thought it was a pretty conventional and helpful guide. I did delay one or two vaccines with his concern of aluminum in mind but had my first child fully immunized. As I was pregnant with my second child, I started to look into the aluminum concern a little more and it led me down a long and winding path of general concern not only with the fact that vaccines are not as researched as we are told and neither are the specific adjuvants used. When I studied the Material Safety and Data Sheets (MSDS) and match up the chemicals and preservatives found in vaccines, it is rather shocking. This led me an a whole other search on the response of the immune system and how that can lead to things like inflammation in the brain. the gut and in many cases, through reading several peer reviewed and published studies, result in auto-immune dysfunction and allergies. I also have come to understand that while many tout vaccines as saving us from the fate of many such as those in 1800's, things like proper nutrition, clean environments and sanitation had a huge effect on what people contracted and died from. Epidemiology data shows clear drops of many of these common killers before mass vaccination started.
All in all, I have come to learn that people are VERY sensitive about this subject and also that the more you look into it, the harder it is to come to an easy conclusion. There are so many facets to the discussion that I never realized until I started researching it further than just the CDC website. Good luck! Hope you can come to a conclusion you feel at peace with!

Wow, you all have offered such helpful thoughts and tips and I really appreciate them all! Thankfully I have some time to do my due research with Bean Pole and make sure we are comfortable with our choice. I know protecting my child is a no "brainer" but as it was brought up, these vaccinations may not be all they are cracked up to be. The topic is so overwhelming but I have faith we will make the right choice. Thanks again for all of the opinions, facts and suggestions!