A thought on vaccines

Let me just preface the following by stating that I am not “anti-vaccination”. I believe some vaccines have their place, and can be used to improve health. In fact, there is one or two that we are planning on giving to our son when he is of an age where they will be useful and his system can better handle the exposure. That being said, I hope that everyone who are vaccinating their children according to the current schedule don’t feel like I am judging them. On the contrary: I believe that each child was given to each parent by God according to His design and I have absolutely no right to pass judgment on you or your choices. My goal instead is to encourage every parent to do your own research. Do not take anyone’s word as gospel. Go out and spend the time and do the foot work to come to your own conclusions after thoroughly researching both sides of the vaccine debate.

What follows I hope will open up a conversation and expose some to new ideas and new thoughts and maybe spur enough doubt or raise enough questions that you begin your own investigation.

It has occurred to me that the medical field is about 40-50 years behind ecologists. Let me draw up some comparisons for you.

40+ years ago it wasn’t a big deal to toss some trash out your window, on the street, in the park…after all, it was only a little bit and a little wouldn’t hurt much. There wasn’t any “scientific proof”, after all, that it caused any harm.

Currently, it isn’t a big deal to have some toxins in vaccinations – mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde, bio-hazardous materials etc…after all, it is only a little bit, and a little bit wouldn’t hurt much. There isn’t any “scientific proof”, after all, that it causes any harm.

(Note: This “lack of scientific proof” is a whole other can of worms that I won’t go into right now…let me just say that there IS proof, but it just isn’t accepted by those in charge…in other words, those who SELL the vaccines - making billions of dollars a year for the medical industry and therefore swing the big bat)

40+ years ago it was common and encouraged to treat our lawns and our fields with chemical fertilizers and pesticides – sometimes multiple kinds at once. Agriculturists and horticulturists encouraged it because it made our crops and lawns so much easier to tend!! We didn’t have to worry about all those pesky bugs that pop up, and we didn’t have to concern ourselves with the health of the underlying soil – the fertilizers made all soils, no matter how over-tilled and drained of nutrients it was, produce beautiful vegetation.

Currently, it is common and encouraged to vaccinate all children starting at birth with 24 or more shots – sometimes more then 5 are given at one doctor’s visit. Pediatricians encourage it and it makes our children so much easier to tend!! We don’t have to worry about all those pesky “bugs” that pop up, and we don’t have to concern ourselves with providing proper nutrition to deal with the health and constitution of the actual child – the vaccines make all children, no matter how malnutritioned (yes, I realize that is not a real word, but it should be :P) appear hearty and robust.

It is 40+ years later and ecologists are blowing the whistle on us. Now we have ample “scientific proof” that the little bit of litter we each put into our earth adds up to a big problem! We see now that it is dangerous, and fool-hardy, to pour chemical fertilizers and pesticides into the ground because those toxins come back to haunt us later in hundreds of different ways – cancers, obesity, mental issues, etc., etc. have all been linked to the poor quality of our food sources thanks to their exposure to the toxins we put into the earth.

I’m hoping it won’t take 40 years for the same thing to happen in the medical field! There are some who are already blowing the whistle on us. They are warning that the little bit of “litter” that is in each vaccination we put into our children add up to big problems! They warn that it is dangerous, and fool-hardy, to stick poisons and bio-hazards into our children because those toxins come back to haunt them later in hundreds of different ways – cancers, mental and emotional issues, weak immune systems, etc., etc. have all been linked to the vaccinations we put into our children.

We look back and see how foolish it was to pollute our earth so thoughtlessly…how much more careful we should be with our children!

Do you believe it is pure coincidence that the rate of cancers, ADD, autism, ADHD, “failure to thrive”, seizures, Alzheimer’s, etc., etc. rose along with the rate of vaccination?

Things to think about:

Veterinarians warn owners not to vaccinate any animal younger then 6 weeks old. An interesting factoid is that most mammals are born roughly equivalent in development to a 9 month old human. Those mammals that aren’t born developed to that level, such as puppies and kittens, reach that same equivalency by about 6 weeks of age. In contrast to a vet’s recommendations, pediatricians recommend we begin vaccinating our babies at birth.

Many vets also are concerned that we are “over vaccinating” our pets – a dog gets 3-4 different kinds of vaccinations in a 1 year period. We are advised to give 11+ different kinds of vaccinations in the first year of life to our infants alone.

Statistically there is absolutely no correlation between the drop in disease and the increase in vaccines. Those statistics stand in sharp contrast to popular pro-vaccination rhetoric.

Those who recommend vaccinations earn money with every shot, but those who warn against vaccination make no money from their recommendations. Quite the opposite in fact: They are usually fired or shunned and their pro-vaccination peers attempt to discredit them and their research. Who would you trust more? People who have something to gain or people who have a lot to lose but risk it anyway?

Pics and Video

Here are some pictures and a video we've taken of Cian the past week and we thought you all might like to see them too! :)

Cian loves putting things into and taking things out of his toy box.


Oh, hello Momma!







You can catch a glimpse of his three bottom teeth. :)


This is Cian's favorite way to watch TV. :)

Sorry for the crooked video. Cian had his first tastes of water from Daddy's water bottle when he was home for lunch. Cian decided he really likes water and now harrasses Tim every time he has that bottle.


Overdue Update

Well, it has certainly been a long time since I blogged last. So much everyday life has happened and we've been so busy that I didn't feel like sitting down to write it all. :)

It is sunny and warm!! :D Today it's supposed to get up to 61F, and tomorrow 65F! I am so glad. I am ready to get out of the house and start living life again...last summer I was somewhat limited on what I could do, being pregnant, so this summer I am ready to live life to the fullest! :)

I have been pruning our various bushes and shrubs, and am hoping that I am doing it right...These poor plants have obviously not been pruned for a long time and they are a tangled mess. Hopefully now that they are pruned, they will do better this summer and not sprawl everywhere like last year.

Rain and Zephyr are very much enjoying the sunshine and spend most of their time outside. Yesterday, Cian and I took Zephyr on his first solo walk. It was the first time he was away from Rain for any length of time, besides the trips to the vet to get his vaccinations, and he did great! He just trucked along behind me checking out the sights. He is so cute, and much more amenable then Rain was! lol

Cian is doing pretty good, though he has been keeping us busy and stressed. :) A couple weeks ago (I think?) we noticed there was a little blood in his stool in two of his diapers so we brought him into the doctor. They aren't sure what was going on, because he didn't seem to be in any pain and there hasn't been any blood since. They took a stool sample, and will be getting back to us with the results as to whether or not he had an infection, or their other guess is that he is lactose intolerant. :( They said that usually babies don't show lactose intolerance if they are breastfed because the proteins get broken down by the mom before it reaches them, but they thought it still might be a possibility since I am lactose intolerant and maybe my body isn't processing the little milk I do have properly before it reaches him. Poor guy...I really hope he isn't!

Cian is also very busy cruising. He is up on everything and makes laps around the living room holding onto couches, toys, baby gates...he has had a fair amount of bonks thanks to it too. It's hard to see him get hurt for the first time!

Cian seems to like doing everything all and once and with intensity. He is teething like crazy and now has 3 teeth on the bottom, with one more just starting to come up, and he's working on his 3rd tooth on the top. All this teething is upsetting his tummy which makes him a miserable boy at night and Momma and Daddy are sleep deprived. I can't wait until he is finished and is a happy baby again.

Lastly, we had an absolutely terrifying thing happen this past weekend. Georgia, Terry, and Tamara had come over for the last part of Spring Break and on Thursday evening we were all enjoying each other's company and hanging out. Tim was helping Tamara with something in the basement, Terry and I were playing the Wii, and Georgia was sitting with Cian. Suddenly, Georgia said something like "Uh oh, I think Cian got some dog food." I jumped up and went over to him and watched him a couple seconds to see if he was breathing...he wasn't. I grabbed him and swung him upside down, hoping that whatever it was would dislodge and pop out his mouth...nothing, so I started giving him the infant Heimlich and yelled for Tim. Tim came running up the stairs and I gave Cian to him (he has had 5 or so CPR/First aid classes). Cian's head was a dark purple, he had foam at the mouth, and was beginning to go limp with unfocused eyes. Tim continued the Heimlich, thumping Cian on the back harder then I had been. I started heading over toward the phone to call 911 when Tim paused for a second to listen, and we thought we heard Cian getting tiny bits of air, but not nearly enough, so Tim kept going and soon Cian was able to get enough air to cry.

We have never been so scared in our entire lives, and we will never, ever forget the sight of our little guy purple, foaming and limp. All I could do was pray as hard as I could, just saying "Oh God, oh God." Thankfully, He knew what I meant to say, and He saved Cian. The rest of the weekend Tim and I would just look at each other, shake our heads and go pale at the thought of it.

Everyone - EVERYONE - who is around babies needs to bone up on their infant/child first aid. If we hadn't known the Heimlich, Cian would most likely not be here today. It happens so fast, and you have zero time to look it up...heck, you have zero time to drag it out of the deep recesses of your memory. Keep it fresh! Cian wasn't breathing for maybe 30 seconds tops before he started to go unconscious.

Yuck.

Anyway, he is now happy and healthy and didn't even have bruises from our thumps.

A couple days later the object he choked on came out in his diaper - it wasn't dog food after all, but a sticker tag. It looks like it came from a playpen/fence that we bought recently. We're thinking about contacting the company with some choice words about having stickers on their products that come off easily without any warning to parents they are there so we could remove them before our baby does!

Well, on to happier thoughts!

Tim will be putting on Staff Sergeant May 1st! We can't wait. It will be weird to get used to calling him Sergeant Nelson instead of Airman Nelson. :)

As for me, I have just been keeping busy with a dog, a puppy, the house and yard, a busy husband, and an ever changing curious little boy. I am also looking into some dance classes in Spokane. If I can scrounge up the money and the one evening a week, I hope to start them soon. Tim is actually thinking about doing them too, if we do the swing dance class, and we can join as a couple. I've always wanted to learn how to dance, and it would be a fun way to stay in shape! Swing would be so much fun! :D We'll see if it works out.

Well this blog is plenty long and I have to go do the dishes. <3