The Vaccine War

As if it weren't enough that we have to make decisions about whether or not to vaccinate ourselves, we also have to decide what's supposed to be safest for our children. In the midst of the plethora of You Tube videos and websites touting the dangers of vaccines there seems to be very little real information. Anecdotal evidence is pushed as proof and botched studies are still quoted everywhere, even though some of them (such as the original paper on how the MMR vaccine caused autism, by Dr. Wakefield) have been retracted and the results never duplicated. I've yet to find one paper that shows any correlation between the vaccine, the preservatives in the vaccine, or any other single component of the vaccine, and diseases such as autism. I have, on the other hand, found numerous studies that show serious outbreaks of supposed "dead" diseases in the US, such as the measles and whooping cough. Seeing infants that are too young to be immunized getting these diseases from older, unvaccinated children (who can carry illnesses that don't do them as much harm) is absolutely devastating.
As a child born in 1976 I've never personally seen someone afflicted with polio, mumps, rubella, or even the measles. And not many in the US in my generation have. We don't really have to deal with these diseases, specifically because our parents vaccinated us against them and they decreased to such an extent that they're practically unknown now. It's called "herd immunity," but it only works if the majority of the herd IS vaccinated or immune. Because so many parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children there has been a spike in the number of outbreaks of preventable diseases in the US, and, honestly, that should scare you as a parent. I know it scares me. The argument that we no longer have these illnesses in the US doesn't really work either, since we travel to foreign countries all the time where things like polio are still rampant. We happen to live in a pretty affluent community of people who enjoy discovering different parts of the world, which also exposes all of us to the diseases that still exist in those parts of the globe.

Now, before you get all angry and start to yell about how Jenny McCarthy's son got autism after an immunization, or that mercury is bad for us, and we know that, I want to say that I DO have serious reservations about vaccines. Especially new vaccines that haven't been time-tested, such as the HPV vaccine for adolescent girls. I don't get the flu vaccine and my daughter isn't fully vaccinated, although she has had quite a few, such as the DTaP and Hib vaccines. That being said, when I traveled to Indonesia you can believe I went and got caught up on at least a few vaccines that I was missing. I also don't like the vaccine schedule for children, mostly because I don't see how 5 to 7 shots per visit can be good for anyone, let alone a 3 month old. And while I'm not particularly afraid of the mercury or preservatives in vaccines, I do wish there was more choice in preservative-free vaccines. I can get organic fruit, veggies, and meat, so where's my organic vaccine?

I'm not trying to pressure parents to vaccinate their kids (although I do think it is a good idea to at least partially vaccinate), but I really want parents to do REAL research on vaccines and make an informed decision. I know a lot of folks who believe that the pharmaceutical companies pressure the FDA to approve vaccines and push them on us, the public, and I don't necessarily disagree with those people. The pharmaceutical companies make way way way too much money off of us, and quite often for drugs that are unsafe or have disastrous side-effects that show up years or even decades later. The choice to vaccinate is hard enough, even without the fear mongering from both the anti-vaccine movement and the medical establishment. I don't want my child to end up with autism or some other brain damage from a vaccine that I volunteered  her for, but I would also be devastated to see her crippled for life because of a new outbreak of polio.

I guess what I'm saying is that it's an impossibly difficult decision with no simple answer, but don't just go along with the mania and believe the hype. From either side.

Another ding against western medicine

So I just had an eye opening experience at the doctor's office. I thought, foolishly as it turns out, that the problems breastfeeding women have in clinical settings was not something we have to deal with in our progressive little community. My lactation classes focus a lot on how to get the hospital you work at to encourage breastfeeding and get policy to reflect that. I kept saying to myself that that wouldn't be something that I would ever have to implement, since obviously our area is soooo supportive of breastfeeding. Wrong.

I went in to the clinic for a rash and saw a new doctor there, Mark Barrick, I believe his name was. I was prescribed a topical ointment to apply and leave on. During the consultation my baby made the "milk" sign in baby sign language, so I breastfed her. At this point I told the doctor that I was concerned about the ointment, since we co-sleep with our little one and she still nurses at night. I asked for some advice, since I didn't want her ingesting the ointment. He asked me how old she was, and when I told him he responded by recommending that I wean her. I was told that my baby is "aggressive," that it would only get more difficult to wean the longer I waited, and that "they" recommend weaning at one year old. He told me that he'd seen a nursing two and a half year old and both the child and the mother were miserable. It was then that things got really ugly. He told me that he believes that mothers who continue to nurse their children are getting "some kind of pleasure from it, and not the good kind." He continued on to say that he also believed that women who prolong nursing are lacking something in their lives, some kind of love and affection, and are trying to make up for it by continuing to nurse their child.

I was floored. So much so that I couldn't even respond other than to nod and say "uh-huh." When I left I was upset and despondent, as we're not ready to wean yet, and especially not in the cold-turkey method he recommended. I know that the longer children breastfeed the healthier they are and the fewer long-term illnesses they have. I also know that the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding for AT LEAST two years, and longer if possible. The American Association of Pediatrics recommends continued breastfeeding for a minimum of a year. Yet still with all this knowledge I had a hard time ignoring the advice from a trusted professional. It took about an hour before I shook it off and got angry. How DARE he insinuate that if I choose to continue breastfeeding my baby I am a sexual deviant living a loveless life and that I'm using my child to feel something?!?!?!? I'm not sure where he gets off trying to push his old-fashioned Freudian views on innocent mothers who are only doing what's best for their children, but he seriously needs to get some psychological help and an updated education about lactation. The fact that he offered no other solution other than weaning just speaks to the fact that his medical training is sorely lacking.

I want all nursing mothers out there to know that wanting to continue nursing your child is NOT wrong. Your child will only benefit from continued nursing, as breast milk is full of immune boosters. Any one who gives you the advice to wean your child when there are no breastfeeding problems or health concerns should be ignored. Pointedly. Many many many mothers struggle to achieve a good breastfeeding relationship with their child and should be encouraged to continue it for as long as she and her child want to. I expected more from our health clinic. And to the doctor I saw, shame on you!

Of reading and toy chests

I'm constantly amazed by all the little things my baby does, like finally walking across the room without falling down or figuring out how to push the button on her twirly light-up Minnie Mouse, so it's even more astounding when she pulls off things that most other children don't do. Like being able to read 25 words at not even 13 months old! I'm quite sure she knows more words than that, but those are the ones that she can show me she knows. So I guess the five months of the Your Baby Can Read program are really paying off! And to those who think, "Why would you want your baby to read?" I ask, "Why wouldn't you?!?!?"

And a couple of days ago I received the amazing toy chest/bench that I ordered on-line. I'm soooo in love with it. Compared to the cardboard box and basket that previously held her toys, this is about a million times better. It even has this great anti-slam lid that you have to push down to get it to close so there's no way she can smash her little fingers in it. Now I just have to make sure she doesn't fall into it while trying to reach a toy at the bottom! I still have to move some furniture around to make a home for it that isn't in the middle of anything, but that seems to be toward the bottom of my to-do list. Speaking of, the dishes are screaming at me....

Tick tick

Poor baby!  She was super fussy last night. Thrashing around, trying to crawl, and screeching in the middle of the night. Daddy got up to get her some teething tablets, as she kept pulling at her ear (which usually means that her teeth hurt) but I couldn't get her to take them. We finally got her settled down and back to sleep. I woke up this morning to see a little dot in the cup of her ear. I couldn't quite see what it was, so I asked Doug, who promptly replied that it was a tick! No wonder she was in such distress last night! We got some tweezers and I got it extracted, no problem, but her ear has been all swollen and red all day. We keep slathering it with neosporin, hoping that it won't do anything wonky, and it looks much better now...finally... I guess that's the drawback to the super cute face-hugs that she gives the dog and cats. Poor little sweetheart!

ARG!

I was almost finished typing this wonderfully cathartic post when the baby crawled over and managed to hit the power button on the computer, thus erasing the entire thing. In my lately-fragile world, this was decidedly not good. Luckily everyone escaped unscathed, except for a few pieces of firewood, which are now much smaller.

Laziest nighttime mommy ever

I swear I am sooo lazy when it comes to nighttime with my baby. I cuddle up and refuse to move until dawn. Well, except for waking up and nursing about twenty times per night. I keep trying to get motivated to do EC at night, but since I can't even seem to change her diaper, I'm just not sure that it will ever work out. Yes, that's right. I admit it, I don't change my daughter's diaper at night. The Seventh Generation diapers are so absorbent they rarely leak, so I've gotten extra lazy and just leave it on till morning. I do have to admit, however, that when I changed her some time in the wee hours of dark last night, she definitely seemed to thrash around less, which allowed me to get better sleep...so yes, in the long run getting up and putting my daughter on the potty would probably result in my getting more sleep. But trying to find the motivation to actually get up in the middle of the night? Well, let's just say that I'm going to have to grow a much larger spine or find a surplus of will-power somewhere.

Babble

While there's a part of me that can't wait for Coral Lynn to start talking, there's also a big part of me that's going to really miss her sweet babbling. I find it inordinately adorable when she oodle-ooo's at the remote control or her wooden spoon. The high-pitched screeching, which has mostly abated (thank god,) is not so cute, but it usually means she's unhappy with something. This is a situation where words would come in handy, instead of us wincing and throwing random toys toward the crystal-shattering noise in the hopes that something will distract her and she'll cease shrieking.

I'll also miss the put-the-toy-on-the-ground-and-attack-it with-your-face move that she's so fond of. It truly makes sense, you know? I mean, your arms get tired of holding something, and the ground is so conveniently steady, why not just set the item in question down and rest your face on it? I imagine this technique doesn't work so well for soup, but should be fine for anything else you want to put in your mouth.

Her latest "I'm so cute you could just die" trick is to cant her head to the side and snuggle her face into your neck or chest. Between that, reaching out for us to pick her up, and the grabbing my face and pulling it toward her for what I believe is a "kiss" (ie, open mouthed sliming with a smile), she's the most adorable thing in the world.

Except for right now. You know that shriek I mentioned? Yeah, well, I guess it may not be on its way out as much as I'd hoped.....