Last week was our 2 months check up. We struggled with the idea of having to give Alexis her vaccines. 5 in one visit, doesn’t it sound ridiculous?
A while ago we decided that we would vaccinate her. We’re pro modern {safe} medicine, pro vaccine people. However, we are also pro “educate yourself before you do anything” people. For once in my life I wanted to do something blindly, without the research that I normally do. Just follow what’s accepted, rather than challenging the norm in favor of what’s best for us. I totally get the people that vaccinate and I completely understand the people that choose NOT to vaccinate. I had ignored the looming vaccination appointment and then finally gave in the day before. I sat at the kitchen table with my husband and asked: “Are we really vaccinating her?”
I absolutely love that my husband is health conscious as well. And he’s SUPER protective of Alexis. “Let’s figure out whether we should and what the dangers are”, he said.
That’s great, but you see, I’m the “researcher” in the family. So I bit the bullet and bought “The Vaccine Book” by my favorite Dr. Sears. I really didn’t want to read books that only highlighted the dangers of vaccines, because like I said I DO believe in vaccinating your kids. However, I also believe in not injecting thimerosal and formaldehyde and aluminium into my baby, if at all possible. So we quickly read about the vaccines she was supposed to get and decided that it made sense for us to do an alternative vaccination schedule, so that no two or more aluminum containing vaccines would enter Alexis’ system at the same time. Basically, space them out a bit, because 5 shots is ridiculous.
Btw, I really recommend this book, because it doesn’t take a pro-vaccine stand and doesn’t tell you that if you vaccinate, you’re giving your child autism. He simply states facts in a very organized manner and it’s up to you to decide what to do. I LOVED IT!
So we ended up doing a combo shot (Pentacel) of Dtap,Polio and HIB, containing the same amount of aluminum as 1 Dtap shot we would have gotten anyway, so I feel that was a good alternative. We’ll be postponing the Pc vaccine till next month when we’ll come specially for a visit to administer it. And then continue the same schedule: Pentacel one month, Pc another.
Ok, so this was not meant to be a vaccine post…back to our appointment.
I verified that sitting a baby up at this age is just fine and that Russians/Europeans along with my mom are just spouting old wives’ tales that you’ll bend their spine or their uterus ( I am not kidding you, that’s what most people in Russia believe).
Alexis weight and height is off the charts, of course, as expected for an exclusively breastfed baby with parents who are 5’11” and 6’3″. She’s in 97th percentiles for both weight and height and 95th for head circumference. Basically she’s the size of an average 4 months old, which explains why some 3-6 months old clothes barely fit.
Her development is on track. She doesn’t roll over yet, most likely due to the fact that she has some reflux and I used to avoid putting her on her back or tummy after she ate and once her food has settled, it’s time to sleep.
{Update: 04/15/12: She just rolled over. I’ve been doing a lot more tummy time and this morning she was looking around while on her tummy with me and hubby sitting next to her. She lifts her arm and I go to say to my husband “Look, this is how eventually she’ll roll…. Oh! Oh! Oh!” and she rolls over 🙂 We cheered and clapped and smiled at her. This was the first milestone that actually took effort for her to complete. Good Job, Girl!}
She holds her head, and lifts her chest off the ground like a champ and even tried to roll over on the pediatrician’s table which was funny. I’ve been doing more floor time lately since her reflux is getting better and she’s actually liking it for a time. There’s a lot of cooing and tongue sticking when you put her down that way.
She also mentioned how her visual development is at a 4 months old level the way she was tracking objects and light. It’s definitely something I have noticed as well and probably the reason for her over-stimulation. She’s simply too young to be noticing so much. Her nervious system isn’t of a 4 months old, so it can’t handle all the stimulation without hourly recovery period. When we go for a walk or simply walk around the house, it’s like she’s watching a tennis match- her head goes back and forth looking at EVERYTHING, noticing EVERYTHING. We’ve actually entered the 4 months wakeful period at 2.5 months about a week ago. She has been way too distracted to nurse properly lately. I can’t even get her to eat for 3 minutes with the way she keeps pulling off and smiling at me, looking at the picture on the wall, agooing with grandma, listening to me talk to her daddy, looking at kitties. I tried going into our movie room with black out curtains for a nursing session, but she managed to find the only stream of tiny light and stared right at her, ignoring my boob. So the nights are a bit more sleepless now, but I feel I am so used to having to get up every 2 hours, that it doesn’t bother me at all. I sort of developed this attitude that she does what’s best for her, so I am alright waking up 4 times a night so that she could get a good meal in.
During the day she goes down for a nap every hour for about 20 minutes with a possible hour long nap. It’s a short time to sleep, and it’s hard to get anything done by the time I’ve rocked her to sleep, but I know like anything, it will pass too and before I know it she’ll go onto something else.
Ok, appointment… {man, do I get sidetracked today}
We were both dreading the shots, of course. It was well past Lexi’s bedtime and she was fussy the whole appointment with all the poking and prodding. I finally rocked her to sleep and it was time for the shot.
I let our pediatrician administer the shot while Alexis was sleeping on me, which was strangely scary and heartbreaking. But the combo of her sleeping and being on my chest meant that her cry lasted all of 5 seconds. It still broke both of our hearts. The rest of the day was spent cycling between sleep and extreme fussiness due to the vaccines.
Oh and I almost forgot to mention that I got TOTALLY peed on and spit up on at the office at the same time {pic on the right}. I don’t know why but moments like that just crack me up.
Ohh man…..the dreaded vaccination appointment….after harrisons two month shots i drove to dq and ordered a milkshake as a reward for me and him(he is breastfed) it was no fun but so neccessary!!!! Cool idea about having her sleep on ur chest…harrisons four month shots have been rescheduled to this upcomming monday…i may try ur technique! : )
To vaccinate or not is such a hard question for me (and I don’t even have a kid yet!),
I just have this fear they’ll screw smth up or smth might go wrong 🙁
Read the book (it’s in my nook) and it’ll be a bit easier to make a decision
Gosh- she is soo adorable! Seriously. I love her hair, her cheeks, her little arms! so cute!
Yay Lexi for rolling over! I also will be doing an alternative vaccination schedule when I have children! 🙂
Did you hear now they are now coming out and saying that Autism may be because of the bad american diet! That is seems so MUCH MORE accurate!
I cried when Amalia got her shots, lol. My fiance had to work out of town, so I was on my own – the nurses actually held her and gave the shots because I couldn’t handle it.
Amalia HATES tummy time – I do it a few times a day and I am getting more time before she gets restless, finally – toys help but she definitely prefers to be sitting up 🙁
She’s cuter every day!! I’m glad she’s all healthy.
Thanks for checking that Eastern Europe belief 😉
Oh and you look stunning! I would definitely keep the cookies if I were you 😀
My son was a bit slow to roll over. He was far more contented to have people carry him around 😉 Sounds like your girl is doing just fine!
I don’t really subscribe to the idea that vaccines = autism. I think things would be far different if the diseases we are being inoculated against were still running rampant. Then we’d be more scared of the diseases anyway, so the benefit would outweigh the risk…kind of like how it was back when inoculations were getting started.
Thanks for posting that book – it’s nice to find books that are writing things that aren’t exactly pro one way or the other, yet still allow you to make an informed decision.
I don’t believe in vaccines=autism either. I remember researching it back when the claim came out before I had even thought of kids.
There’s a really great book called “The Autoimmune Epidemic” that explains toxin overload and how anything that contributes to toxin overload can play a role in an auto immune/autism type illness. So vaccines are only one of many possible contributing toxins. Once the toxin cup is full, the final toxin that causes it to overflow is what sets the illness in motion. So, that might help explain all the anecdotal stories about children whose autism seemed to kick in after a certain vaccines. Other factors like health of parents at conception, genes, environmental toxins all work together.
Anyway, I am in favor of vaccines, but I really believe that its important to space them out and to research all the possible factors that work together.
So, this is why many autistic children experience a reversal in symptoms after their parents help remove toxin exposures from diet and environment.
Anyway, sorry for the long post. I really appreciate that you put a thoughtful post out on vaccinations–their is a general lack of awareness and feartrain riding out there. The dangers of not vaccinating are much more serious.
Vaccination is not related to autism. The “doctor” who did the research confessed he had altered the results
There is anecdotal evidence that suggests that suggests a causal relationship to many parents. If you read my post, you see that I didn’t suggest vaccines cause autism, but there are toxins in vaccines that are harmless to most people, but can be the toxin that causes the toxin cup to overflow.
That’s a very simplistic explanation to a complex issue–the book is using peer review research and science and was recommended by Senator Kerry for everyone to read to begin to understand the complex causes behind autoimmune illness. New research links autism to autoimmune illness. Read the book.
Alana,
Those anecdotal stories you speak of (besides being just that, anecdotal) are falsely identifying a psychological phenomenon because these people speaking out against vaccines are not psychologists or doctors. It’s called echolalia and explains clearly the apparent regression (but not actual regression) of skills after vaccines. The timeline is purely coincidental. Correlation never implies causation statistically. Please do all your research before dispensing advice. This comes from the girl whose cousin is dead at 8 years old after contracting measles. Did you know that measles has a high fatality rate? Most Americans who buy into vaccine hysteria don’t. The rates in the US are climbing as the vaccination rate falls. Thank you Elena, for vaccinating and discussing it in a public forum!
I’m glad you are vaccinating her and informed yourself. Just FYI – the DTaP, polio and Hib combo vaccine is called Pentacel. I’m assuming by “Pc” vaccine you mean the pneumococcal vaccine, which is actually the Prevnar vaccine. Are you not doing the hepatitis B vaccine?
Oops shit you’re right! Gotta correct that. I was going over so many combo names and researching them, it’s all a mess in my head now. Thanks for the heads up.
We did Hep B at 1 month (unfortunately), so we’ll continue it, no actual timeline…eventually when there are no other shots. Or maybe just leave her with that one shot. Had I known better I would have not even given that intial Hep B at 1 month. We did reject the one at birth though.
I mean this as respectfully as possible, but if you are having trouble keeping these straight, why not leave it up to those who spend years of research on these vaccination schedules? Dr. Sears is pretty much on an island with this stuff. God forbid my child got a preventable disease because of speculatory links.
That being said, five vaccines in one appointment seems bizarrely high. I can’t remember my son having more than two injections, and another by mouth.
With all due respect to those who spend years researching, there’s a lot more that goes into politics of vaccination and determination of when and how much to vaccinate. One has to do just a bit research to see that the risks that vaccines do present are real but acceptable to those setting the schedule (AAP or CDC).
Not remembering the right name of a combo vaccine considering there are many of them manufactured by different companies doesn’t constitute actually administering that wrong vaccine.
It’s easy to look the other way but with just a little bit of education it’s clear that you really need to do your own research rather than relying on what “experts” tell you because “experts” have their own agendas.
Oh and as far as Dr sears, he’s far from being alone in everything that he says. The guy is brilliant and I would love to have him as our pedi.
Re: 5 vaccines: that “recommended” schedule by highly researched people you speak of is pc, HIB, rotavirus,dtap, polio, heb b (not positive about this one) all administered in one visit. Your pedi just used a combo vaccine for the HIB, dtap,polio. + pc. And probably skipped rotavirus and Hep B.
Rotavirus is a liquid that is injested. Yes there are combos of each of these. I worked in a pediatrics office for 3 years and did all the ordering and management of the vaccines. Im glad you did your research and to each their own on what they do. I have my own opinions on shots as well. I just wish people would educated themselves on things rather than make decisions based on what others say! Such as I will not vaccinate because it causes Autism! Biggest pet peeve everrrrrrrr!!! There all always going to be risks on any medical intervention that you recieve. I just have to have faith in my doctor and all the research that the benefits of vaccines are greater than not having my child vaccinated. This is mostly because I have seen many infants get horrible diseases that could have been prevented because of a vaccine. Many that will never live a normal healthy life ever again. Im sorry for rambling I could just go on and on haha!
All that being said I personally could have swung both ways: do all vaccines or do none. I see points in both.
But alternative schedule is the best of both worlds for non-daycare baby.
We skipped rotavirus as our pedi thought it wasn’t needed for a baby not going to daycare, and afterwards I started to regret it because he will be amongst other babies doing classes and such but I couldn’t turn back because it was too late. But now I feel very comfortable about skipping it, I’ve talked to 2 other Dr.’s since then and they both shrugged it off as if it wasn’t a big deal, you just of have to cognazint once you notice diarrhea to make sure your child is well hydrated
Oh actually if you say they gave your baby an oral that’d be rotavirus which is administered as a live virus in your baby’s mouth.
Don’t the Hep B vaccines have to be given within a 6 month period? We’re about to start Lucy’s and I think the pediatrician said we need to start soon so she can be fully vaccinated before starting preschool. We spaced ours out too and feel great about the decisions we’ve made.
It’s a lot to take in. You’re doing a great job Elena!
Is it a school requirement?
I’m not sure of the timeline but I know that hep B isn’t a risk to sexually inactive or non-drug using people. They started to vaccinate every person at birth because that was the easiest way to prevent the spread of it.
The term “required” is very loose. There are people who do not vaccinate for cultural or religious reasons (and also those who are autoimmune). There is a waiver you can sign before school to exempt your child from vaccines.
While rare, it is possible to contract hep b without having sex or using needles. It spreads through the exchange of bodily fluids, so you could contract it through close contact with someone else who is infected.
I read that it’s actually incorrect. It can’t be passed down through normal interaction like kissing and such.
I’m no doctor, but Health Canada (http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/hep/index-eng.php) and the Canadian Pediatric Society (http://www.caringforkids.cps.ca/handouts/hepatitis_b_vaccine) disagree.
Also, Alexis is gorgeous!
It says can be spread through blood only. Which isn’t easy even when you’re in close contact with someone.
And I seem to remember reading that it was previously erroneously believed that it can be spread through toothbrushes etc. but i might be remembering something else…
Have you heard of buzzy? http://www.buzzy4shots.com/ We got one and I have a five-year-old and a newborn. I would recommend them highly! They truly do reduce your perception of pain, and as another alt-vaxing Mom I wouldn’t be without considering my girls have more visits for shots than the average due to our wanting them spaced.
While big, 97th percentile and 95th percentile are still on the charts.
Off the charts wasn’t meant literally but figuratively. 😉
Oh my! 5 shots is a lot!
I’ve done the alternative schedule with both my girls and it works out well. My oldest is almost 3.5 years old and she’s completely caught up and on schedule for her 5 year vaccines before she enters kindergarten. I won’t let them get more than 2 in 1 visit.
No reason to administer 5 shots in poor baby’s leggy. 🙁
Did you reject all vaccinations at birth? What about the vitamin K shot? I still can’t decide what I should do…
We postponed heb B till 1 month appt, so we didn’t have it at birth. We decided to go with vit K though.
Google vitamin k & Nashville & you will probably come up with the article I read sometime back. Babies don’t have enough vitamin K to clot well if they bleed. So if they don’t get the shot they can bleed more freely. This has serious consequences, and in the case of two kids led to fully preventable brain damage!
she looks so much like your husband in that first picture!
Ugh, I apologize that my comments always double. I’m not sure if my computer is hacked or what but someone uses my name to repeat ALMOST exactly what I am saying. It’s so bizarre! Lol.
Wow, never thought of that for vaccines! Guess I haven’t done enough research. I think I’ll ask the doc if we can do that too.
go, tummy time, go! and look at that hair! i remember riley’s first shots (2) at 6 weeks, it broke my heart and man i have never seen a baby turn so red! glad alexis didn’t cry too long!
Since you talked about sitting babies up, I recalled a recent post by a personal favorite… you might be interested in a different perspective – http://www.janetlansbury.com/2012/04/sitting-babies-up-the-downside/
I did read that post a week ago and it makes sense. However it’s not an issue for us since we never leave her sitting in pillows or for periods of time. I just sit her up on my lap while reading or to look around for a bit. But see, most eastern Europeans would gasp if they saw a baby sat up like that. They believe it’ll have health consequences. And that’s what I verified that no, in fact, sitting a baby up on your lap won’t break their spine or “bend their uterus”. Lol
Magda Gerber, the researcher and educator who inspired that post, was Eastern European too now that I think about it. Perhaps there is some truth in it affecting physical development (like explained in the post), just not in the “bend the uterus” way that the old wives’ tales proclaim. Interesting. Something to think about perhaps? 🙂
Oh my, Alexis is super cute love the 2nd pic with her cheeks!
I also read the vaccine book, it’s so funny that even before I was pregnant I was so against vaccinations, and after reading the book I’m sitting on the fence. I actually have a client who’s son has aluminum toxicity, which she believes is due to vaccines. Did you by any chance run into problems with your pedi regarding how you wanted to proceed and administer the vaccines? Would love to know!
WOW, what a cutie!! she is such a ham! love her hair! hopefully she will keep it, my first have that much hair when born then it all fell out at 4 months.
I hate vaccines 🙁 it never gets easier. you made a great choice educating yourself.
We also have the Vaccine Book by Sears. 🙂 It’s such a scary thing to think of injecting toxns (not to mention animal and human DNA) into our precious babies. I HATE it. Josh and I still haven’t fully made up our minds wether or not Lillian will get any vaccinations…but at the moment we’re heavily leaning towards NOT. We will decide for sure once she’s older, like 2 years old at least. (I wish we could take back the Hep B shot she got when she was 4 days old. 🙁 I hadn’t done any research yet at that point. We gave in at her checkup even though we declined it in the hospital. Now, after researching I almost wish, like you said, that I HADN’T done any research. What you read just makes you sick. And scared!)
Also I wanted to let you know you’ve won the Versatile Blogger Award;
swing by
when you can to pick it up! 🙂
And have you reaserached the consequences of not vaccinate at all?
Where are you doing your research? All from popular published books? You are making a grave mistake. Vaccinations are safer now than they ever have been, and have been around for a long time. If vaccinations were the cause of any of the spike in autism or autoimmune diseases, we would have seen the spike decades ago – not now, 50 years later. Correlation does not imply causation – and there is no scientific proof at all that vaccines are in any way harmful. You are relying on herd immunity to protect your child as well as taking a perilous risk. My cousin recently died from measles contracted from an unvaccinated child shortly after she was adopted (and before she was able to be vaccinated.) Measles causes many complications beyond the initial illness, and many of these are commonly fatal in countries where vaccination is not the norm. The vaccination rate in the US is dropping in direct relation to the cases of avoidable diseases rising. THAT makes me sick and scared. These deaths are totally avoidable. Don’t be the cause of another one! When you don’t vaccinate your healthy child, you put all less-healthy and unable to be vaccinated children at risk of death due to your selfish and uneducated behavior.
I am terribly sorry about your cousin 🙁 That is every parent’s worst nightmare.
I’m confused, are you saying your cousin was adopted and unvaccinated, or the was the unvaccinated child your cousin contracted it from adopted (and unable to be vaccineted yet)?
You better believe I’m terrified of Lillian possibly contracting an illness. But you better believe also that I’m terrified of vaccines and their ingredients. Even without the fears of autism/autoimmune diseases, etc, you have to admit that there are toxic materials in vaccines, and aborted fetuses, and animal parts, etc. I am so careful about everything Lillian comes in contact with…just the thought of willingly injecting that stuff right into her bloodstream makes me sick.
And before you call me selfish or uneducated, I’ll have you know that now that I’m a mama I’ve become OVEReducated about vaccines. Hence my fear.
And people like you who pretend that they vaccinate their children to protect “the less healthy” sicken me. The truth is, you vaccinate your child because you’re afraid of your child getting a disease, and because it’s accepted and normal and expected to vaccinate. And dare I add, because you’re uneducated about vaccines. If you’ve done your research and weighed the risks and benefits, then kudos to you. I’m still in my research/decision-making stage. But if I DO decide to vaccinate, it won’t be because some small-minded sheep like you told me to. Oh, and before you go around telling everyone to vaccinate their child to protect all the other children of the world, are you willing to be personally responsible for that child’s health? Would it even affect your conscience one bit if you scared some mama into vaccinating her child and that child died or got a life-long disability from it? We’re all just mothers trying to do best for OUR babies.
I apologize in advance for the ‘small-minded sheep’ remark…let me clarify I DON’T mean that parents who vaccinate their children are small- minded sheep…I mean people like Alli who call people like me ‘uneducated and selfish’ just because I question vaccines. But even still, I shouldn’t have resorted to name calling. Sorry.
Your response alone tells me that you haven’t done your research. You may be “educated” – but clearly from false sources. What field is your background in? Clearly not biology or any form of medicine. Not name calling – just calling a spade a spade. My cousin was the adopted child who was too ill to be vaccinated. By the time she was vaccinated, she had already unknowingly contracted measles, which was already destroying her brain. She contracted it from an unvaccinated child the family knew in passing. I’m not a small-minded sheep – I’m a person who works in this field and sees this every day. Why does protecting the less-healthy sicken you? If your child had cancer and an extremely weak immune system, you would kiss the feet of Salk. There is no threat to anyone from the materials in vaccines. You consume more aluminum or mercury from using foil or eating tuna. That aborted fetus you speak of? Human DNA from decades ago. DECADES. You make it sound as if they kill babies and inject their blood into you! Not true! And no, I don’t vaccinate just to protect others, but there is this thing called herd immunity that is very important to protect those that need protecting in our society. I will once again reiterate what you did not respond to – where was the autism and autoimmune spike when vaccines first started to be used? Oh wait – there wasn’t, which more than likely means that there are environmental/diet causes for these things – a far more likely conclusion. This whole vaccine paranoia started because of one man who subsequently lost his medical license. The journal article that started it was retracted. Where’s your refute for that? It’s all a big conspiracy? And no, I wouldn’t feel bad at all if someone had an ill effect from vaccines. People fall ill from typically harmless things every day. It sucks, but it’s a fact of life. Have you seen what Rubella does to a fetus or a child? Not a fact of life. A totally preventable and horrible circumstance.
Love her cheeks!!! I dread the thought of having to take any baby we have for injections!
Good thing you have a choice weather to vaccinate or not… Here in Mexico its not an option, its a must if you want to get your child in daycare/school… and If authorities notice your child is missing vaccines, something similar to child services (DIF here in Mex) gets involved… I never really gave vaccines much thought, but after reading this post, made me think about everything my child was exposed to without me knowing… My child was born premature, and he was not administered hep B at birth, but two months later, along with 3 more… your girl is so beautiful!
She is just the most beautiful baby in the whole world! I love her hair!!!! It’s getting lighter, it looks like!! And she’s so ugh, so freaking adorable!!!! holy freaking baby fever. And you, are one ridiculously hott mama!!
Alexis has excellent head control and neck strength! Love to see her tummy time pictures 🙂
My daughter has been in the 97th percentile for weight and 95th for height her whole life. (She’s 20 months old and is the size of a 3 year old. I hope she grows up to be tall. I’m only five feet tall, so I know she’ll be taller than me!) I LOVE a chubby baby–esp their adorable little thighs!
I thought we went through the 4 month wakeful period at 2.5 months too. Then we hit 4 months and it was like having a newborn all over again. Good luck when you get there!
Haha I was thinking that might be the case lol
Are you not doing the Rotovirus vaccine then?
No we aren’t. We decided not to do it and then found out that our pedi doesn’t do Rotovirus anyways. So we didn’t even have to fight the battle on that one.