a shot in the dark

I've been struggling for a long, long time about what to do about vaccinations for James and for future children. Henry has been fully vaccinated right on schedule from the start, and it felt right at the time. But ever since he got a 106 fever and was pretty much convulsing helplessly on my lap after his 15 month shots, I began to debate if fully vaccinating every child right on schedule was the right choice for my family. That event really shook me up, and then last Fall I saw the Oprah episode with Jenny McCarthy talking about her son with autism (I'll spare you the details since I'm sure most of you have seen it or heard way too much about it), and that made me dig even deeper on the issue of immunizations. I committed myself to search for any information I could find on vaccinations...what is in them, how they work, and what side effects they cause. A friend let me borrow a great book called "What Your Doctor May NOT tell you about Children's Immunizations", I read it, and got a sour taste for most vaccinations and felt further motivation to seek out the most current information possible from an unbias source. I knew it was my job as a parent to 1) be informed and 2) make the best possible choice for my child. Believe me, I feel that there are horrible diseases out there (I've misdiagnosed my child with quite a few of them and consider myself a hypochondriac on most days) and that vaccinations save lives. I'm grateful that we have come so far medically as to spare a child from these diseases. My worries arise more in the fact that when I took my son to his 2 month checkup they wanted to give him FIVE shots. FIVE shots that vary in ingredients from aluminum (hundreds of micrograms higher than what their brains are supposed to handle), monkey tissues (that are thought to have originally brought about AIDS), mercury (there is still a trace), and cow fetus serum (yes, i said that right....cow fetus serum). I know what some of you may be thinking....we breathe crappy air, we eat processed foods, and everything in this world causes Cancer, BUT I just can't bare to shoot such foreign objects into such a perfectly innocent, healthy, newborn baby. And last I checked Coke and Kraft Mac & Cheese don't contain human blood proteins (as does the MMR shot). Dr. Sears put out a very informative and straight forward book called "The Vaccine Book" that is pretty much unbias, if that's possible. It's not anti-vaccinations or pro-vaccinations...it's more along the lines of "here's the research I've done, here's what I do at my office, and take this information and make your own choice" type of a book. It was just what I needed to help me figure this all out. I HIGHLY recommend it to any of you who may have the same concerns that I do. I am not an extremist, and I would never not vaccinate my child at all. I've realized through all of this that you don't have to do everything your doctor asks of you and you don't have to feel like your pediatrician's response of "I vaccinate my children" needs to force you to do the same. You can pick and choose vaccinations, you can delay vaccinations, or you can decline to vaccinate at all (and yes, Utah still allows your unvaccinated child to go to school).

So basically, after much reading, talking with my pediatrician, and much thought I've decided to follow a selective alternative schedule of immunizations for James. Basically, he will be starting his vaccinations a little late, only get one shot that contains aluminum at a time, separating the M, the M, and the R, avoiding non-vital vaccines (ie: the flu shot, the chickenpox vaccine), and still be fully immunized by the time he goes to school.

I feel relieved to have made the decision. It's empowering to search for answers, find them, and be able to make my own informed decisions for my children. I strongly believe that doctors are not all-knowing and that a mother's instinct is much more powerful.

I didn't post this to debate it or to coerce you into thinking that you shouldn't be vaccinating your child the way that you are (there's no right or wrong answer to this one), but more to share with you how I came to the conclusion that I did and to share some resources that I've found helpful along the way.

If you are interested in hearing more on the issue, check this out...