I agree with you SQ on not having as many visitors.  We had family come into town for the birth and there were all these activites planned, I was exhausted trying to be somewhat of a hostess, and bleeding horribly! The second day I got a high fever and bled so much I almost passed out, and I know its because I was over-doing it.

I wish I wouldn't have listened to the doctors as much, they wanted me to supplement her with formula and I did in the first week, (found out a month later after she had tons of blood in her diapers that she was totally allergic to milk protein) She was miserable at night groaning and hugging her legs to her stomach, which I was told was "normal".....sorry, but most of the doctors I've met don't know much about nutrition, so I won't be taking their advice in that area.

I wish I wouldn't have gone back to work so soon, (yes she was 7 months old, but it was too soon still, in fact I wish I didn't have to be gone so much NOW even though she is 2 years old)

I wish I would have realized more than I did that the newborn stage, though exhausting, lasts such a short time in the scheme of things, and it is one of the most precious times in the world. 

I wish I would've taken more pictures while pregnant and while she was a young baby, and in the hospital....the lesson I've learned, YOU CAN NEVER TAKE TOO MANY PICTURES!

me too, I had no idea what was going on, but I felt anxious and antsy a lot of the time...

Wow, you guys just filled in some of the things that I forgot to mention on my earlier posts.

As far as vaccinations, I totally agree with the vitamin K shot.  Here baby, you are screaming becuase you just had a horrible traumatic experience, we are keeping you from the one thing that can calm you, being close to your mother and nursing you, have a shot in the leg just to make it all better!

I was out of it when my son was born but my mom was there and watching everything, and took lots of pictures thank God!  She said that she almost punched the doctors when they gave him the vitamin K shot.

And he is 16 mo old now and didn't get all of is 1 year shots, and didn't get any of his 15 month shots, but now that I read your post Mountain Mama, I am not so sure I am going to give him those shots.  I don't want him screaming for three days. 

I can't stand doctors now.  After having my son and seeing the blunders they made with him, I want to avoid them. 

And I can't believe that they suggested supplimenting with formula, in all the breastfeeding classes and so forth I took that is the #1 thing they said NOT to do!  Doctors, they really know nothing, it is very sad, and these people are supposed to be there to help, but they just make things worse!

maybe its just the doctors out here, because I had always read that supplementation was the wrong thing to do, but I was sent home with tons of formula "samples" and doctors telling me (over the phone
when she hadn't had a wet diaper in a few hours and I was worried) that, "no your milk definetly hasn't come in yet, shes not getting enough, and we don't want her to get dehydrated" as I was trying to describe the fact that my boobs were five sizes bigger, hard as rocks with milk coming out....stupid...I'm all for doctors when kids are actually sick or something, but they don't have a ton of nutritional training, (my brother-in-law is a surgeon but nutritionally doensn't have tons of information)

If you are considering going the no vax route, I suggest a book called "How to Raise a Healthy Child Inspite of Your Doctor" Its written by a pediatrician with 40 years of experience. Honestly after all my research, the only thing that scares me is pertussis and that vaccine has a high failure rate so to me there was no point. I had pertussis at age 7 and I was fully vaccinated. Now that she is over age 1 pertussis doesnt scare so much anymore.

www.nvic.org has some great alternative information. Another thing to consider is all the different animal proteins inside vaccines as well as fetal cell lines from aborted fetal tissue. Some see it as a necessary evil, but I dont.

I am not trying to start a debate. The statistics you are quoting are world wide statistics. Meaning that kids in 3rd world countries are looped in there too. You can not compare my child to a third world countries child. I have spent what could add up to weeks researching my decision. The fact the you are assuming that I dont vaccinate based on pseudo science and internet junk is laughable. I am so sick of people saying that. I found the most damning information straight from the CDC. I found your post very disrespectful. Its about the right to informed consent and if you dont like my rights then move to China.

If your precious vaccines work so well then my decision has no bearing on your child's health.

You wanna talk herd immunity. Most adults do not have their vaccinations up to date and most vaccines dont last longer than 10 years. There is a huge unvaccinated adult population out there and that just pokes holes all over the herd immunity theory.

I am not anti-vaccine, I am pro informed consent. I know lots of people that vaccinate, but my child was injured and I am very lucky she snapped out of it. Until you see it first hand you dont effing know. In the end we are all trying to do what's best for out children.

Here is what i took into consideration for each vaccine available disease.

1. Name of the disease
2. Description of the disease
3. Length of time from initial infection to end of all symptoms
4. Infectious period
5. Normal symptoms of the disease
6. Known serious consequences of the disease
7. Proportion of persons infected developing serious consequences
8. Transmission route of the disease
9. Prevalence of the disease
10. Treatments of the disease and efficacy of those treatments
11. Relevant research about the disease
12. Name of the vaccine
13. Company that makes the vaccine
14. Contents of the vaccine
14A. The significance of whether or not the vaccine is live
15. History of development of the vaccine
16. Known side-effects of the vaccine and rate of incidence of those side-effects
17. Possible side-effects not yet acknowledged by the vaccine maker
18. Relevant research into the vaccine
19. How effective is the vaccine at preventing the disease?
20.What is the vaccine meant to do? (Many vaccines are not meant to prevent infection or transmission).
21.Number of cases reported each year.
22.Number of deaths reported each year from the vaccine and natural disease.

MountainMama~

Just an outsider's opinion.... but I don't think AiS meant his post as disrespectful to you.  I think he was merely championing the idea for each parent to do their own research.  I like that there are parents on both sides of the fence here, but that you all are promoting well informed decisions.

That stat is from the WHO. Its used in the US, but its a world wide average of all countries. In countries where malnutrition is rampant, measles can kill you. Measles uses up the body's vitamin A reserves quickly causing complications. The rates of all vaccine available diseases were declining well before vaccines were introduced. Vaccination rates were really low when vaccines were first introduced. So low that they cant take full credit for the continuing decline of illness.

Again, I am not telling you to not vaccinate your children. I think parents have every right to choose what they feel is best for their child. I fully respect any parent that follows the full vaccination schedule. However, we should not make it mandatory. Thats a slippery slope. Thats the problem with North America, we are so eager to exchange our liberty for a little bit of safety. If your intuition says its wrong, then keep reading until you are sure about what you want. You can always do it later, you cant undo it once its done. By the CDC's own admission, only 1-10% of reactions are reported to VAERS. That includes reactions like death and severe injury.

Look at Japan. They have low infant mortality rates and a high vaccination rate and there schedule is fully voluntary. They also use about half as many vaccines than the USA schedule. There is a good reason they trust their government over there. They have recalled all suspect vaccines as soon as the slightest increase in side effects occur. They do not allow sick children to be vaccinated. They only do one shot at a time. They do not require shot records for school or anything really. They let the parents decide which vaccines they want and when to give them. They have a general guideline but its optional. Its that caution that inspires trust.

I tend to ask my parents about this stuff. My mom has 6 siblings. My dad has 7 siblings. My husbands dad has 10 siblings. All non vaccinated, except for small pox. They all had measles, mumps, chicken pox, rubella, etc. No one died and they all experienced mild cases.I asked them about their peers/neighbors. Not one death or serious complication. Look at the swine flu thing. They were all healthy farm kids, eating healthy farm fresh food, exposed to all kinds of germs to build an immune system. If small pox comes back, I'll consider. If Ebola comes to North America and there is a vaccine, I'll consider. Those are deadly diseases.

IMO If its your time to go a piano will fall on you in the middle of the desert. If not you will survive anything. I survived a a bowel abcess/perforation and going completely septic. That has killed healthier people than me. It wasnt my time to go. I changed that day that my daughter reacted. I must admit that the whole vaccine subject captivated me. My husband questioned my sanity at times because I must have read 2-3 hours each day of the first 9 months of my daughters life. I have chilled out a bit since then. I realized that we are all trying to do the best we can, even if we dont research every single decision. I just want to put out there that I am not some berry picking, homeschooled, moon maiden that only reads whale.to articles.

NVIC is not anti vaccine. They encourage one to look at all sides, including the CDC and the AAP. Dr.Sears The Vaccine Book is a good middle of the road vaccine book.

I'll shut up now, as this thread went way off course.