Oh Vaccines..

I had never heard about the controvery around vaccinations before being a member of babycenter. After reading many mixed reviews from the posters I decided to research the safety of vaccines on the AAP, AMA, CDC and IOM websites myself to get a better understanding of what the issues were. I found that most of the research I found related to vaccines and autism, which was my main concern due to all the media attention relating to the topic so I was okay with focusing my attention to that issue.

I read a good chunk of the immunization safety review:vaccines and Autism (www.nap.edu/?record_id=10997) and based on what I found I decided to vaccinate Ryland. What I found throughout the review was:

The committee concludes that the body of epidemiological

evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship

between the MMR vaccine and autism.

They stated that low doses of thimerosal exposure has not been demonstrated to be associated w/ effects on the nervous system. I have to admit that after reading that I felt more at ease, considering my main concerns w/ vaccinations was the risk of autism.

I still wanted to consult Ryland's ped though to find out how he felt about vaccines, and learn a bit more, he was great about going over what each vaccine was, and why he felt it was important for me to vaccinate my son. He went over stories about a case in Britian where a man went on about how vaccinations caused nervous system damage and as a result the number of children vaccinated went down, he then said there was an outbreak of measles or something (sorry, my memory is terrible) and children died while the rate of autism stayed the same during that time, then because of the increase of children dying due to not being vaccinated, vaccine rates increased again. He told me that more mercury is found in breastmilk than vaccines, which I didn't even think about. He also tried to make me feel "safe" saying that all the peds in the office had their children vaccinated and it was the best thing I could do as a mother. So he was vaccinated.

I trusted his ped an incredible amount, not just because he was a doctor with "knowledge" on the subject but because that man saved my son's life. If it weren't for him I would have taken Ryland home and he would have died within the week (born with a coarch, but displayed no signs minus a small heart murmer-usually coarch babies are blue, have little movement etc).

I can say now, I regret the decision to vaccinate Ryland. I feel like even though I was briefed about what each vaccine was for, I was not prepared for the effects that it would have on my son, let alone the low immunization success rates and having to continue giving him the vaccines in order for them to work. I feel that it is part of the medical communitys job to let us know EVERYTHING about vaccines- the pros and the cons. In today's society we're told to take the doctors advice, when I tried to do my research I went to "reputable" sites instead of basing my opionings off BCC or blogs and I feel that I was still given biased information collected by people that make money by giving children vaccinations.

My son, who rarely fusses, has been fussy for almost 3 full days now. i've tried tylenol, cuddling, everything I can think of and hes still fussing. not just fussing, full out crying! I can't handle it!!My son is in pain and it is 100% my fault. He has puked more in the last 3 days then he has his entire life, he had a fever for 2 days, and has been extremely sleepy. I'm furious.

I'm going to research Dr Sears vaccine schedule more. I need to find out if children need to be vaccinated before entering daycare (I think they do), A lot of this post was scrambled together because i've been cuddling my poor son who has been passed out while typing and I have a million thoughts running through my head. I feel completely betrayed.

I don't get how when I tell people how Ryland is feeling I get an "oh he'll get over it, all babies react that way" speech. I don't get how such a bad reaction to vaccines is just accepted by parents. Why is it that I don't learn about things until after I do them? Where is a new-unexperienced parent supposed to go to learn(which includes what sources to trust).

I'm just very frusterated...and sad.