Today is the day our baby boy turns 2 months! Oh my gosh, how is it possible that I am the mother of a 2 month old! However old I feel right now, will only exponentially increase I am afraid, as this blog hears such things as: I am the mother of a 2 year old.....a 5 year old...a 13 year old....ahhhh!!! My mind is completely racing right now, but I have to remind myself to stay in the moment so I don't pre-stress to much!
So in this moment, I will talk about one of our major accomplishments today. Today was the much-dreaded shot day. The day I have been hoping wouldn't get here. The day I have been stressing about, researching, picking people's brains, and having nightmares about. Should I skip vaccinations altogether and take our chances on diseases? Should I just bite the bullet, vaccinate, and take my chances that everything will be ok? What exactly are the chemicals that will be entering my son's body? What will the side effects be? ......the list goes on.
In this midst of my research on the subject, one of the most surprising things I found out is just how combative of a subject this actually is. Parents of autistic children say across the board that it is the fault of a vaccine, doctors across the board say there is no link, and each side pretty much hates the other. That left me completely in the middle, not knowing what the true story is, and putting me in a position, once again, where I had to completely trust God and my own instincts on the subject.
After much anticipation and dread of today's appointment, Leon and I talked to Micah's doctor. We picked his brain on vaccines, and wanted to get all our facts straight as best we could. Instead of doing all the vaccines altogether like many people typically do, we proposed to our doctor an alternative vaccine plan from Dr. Sears' Vaccine Book. Part of the problem in my mind had been the fact that vaccines were starting so early, while their bodies are still trying to form. And here they were about to pump my baby boy full of 4 different viruses so to speak. Not cool for me! What Dr. Sears proposes is a more spread out vaccine schedule, where babies are actually given more shots, but more spread out, and not bundled together like shots tend to be done. This cuts down on unnecessary ingredients in the bundled together shots, and more evenly distributes the shots, so babies' little bodies can handle it better, and with less side-effects. This was the only thing I had found in all my research that I was really at peace about, so this is what I had my heart set on. And to our surprise, our doctor was fine with it! We will have to go back more often than the standard schedule, but to us it is worth it if for no other reason than peace of mind for Leon and me.
So here is the Dr. Sears schedule of vaccines that we are going to follow with Micah, with a few changes:
- 2 months: DTaP, Rotavirus
- 3 months: Pc, HIB
- 4 months: DTaP, Rotavirus
- 5 months: Pc, HIB
- 6 months: DTaP, Rotavirus
- 7 months: Pc, HIB
- 9 months: Polio (IPV)
- 12 months: Mumps, Polio (IPV)
- 15 months: Pc, HIB
- 18 months: DTaP, Chickenpox
- 2 years: Rubella, Polio (IPV)
- 2 1/2 years: Hep B, Hep A (start Hep B at birth if any close relatives or caregivers have Hep B)
- 3 years: Hep B, Measles
- 3 1/2 years: Hep B, Hep A
- 4 years: DTaP, Polio (IPV)
- 5 years: MMR
- 6 years: Chickenpox
- 12 years: Tdap, HPV
- 12 years, 2 months: HPV
- 13 years: HPV, Meningococcal
I was telling Leon today on our way home from the doctor, that it's amazing how little you know of just how much stress you are carrying until that stress is gone. Did that make any sense? In other words, when you no longer have a particular stress in your life...in my case, the stress of vaccine decisions...you start to realize just how much it was occupying your thoughts. So now I can relax and take a breath, knowing that we made the right decision for our family. And that is what I encourage every parent out there to do...what is best for YOUR family and no one else! Do not be bullied by anyone to do something you are not comfortable with. In fact, there is a great parenting blog I stumbled upon called Anti-Sheephood which encourages people to not be "sheep" and follow the crowd when it comes to parenting. It definitely helped comfort me when it came to our decision about Micah's vaccinations.
**And on a more positive note...Micah not only turned 2 months old today, but he also turned from his stomach to his back!! Isn't he just the most talented baby in America?! :)~ Here is a new picture with his sister Coco cuddling up next to him in honor of his 2 month birthday...
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