Try It Tuesday: The Vaccination Book by Dr. Sears

Choosing whether or not to vaccinate your children is an important decision, the outcome of which can affect their ability to attend public school and travel globally. Vaccinating your child without doing ample research runs you the risk of suffering severe consequences, on the flip side being cavalier about not vaccinating your child could hold equal risk. I have seen both sides of this dilemma. One friend now parents a child with mental and social delays that she credits to additives in her young boy's vaccination. Another lost her newborn to a preventable disease after choosing to opt out of its vaccination. Which is worse, a loss caused by action or inaction? These are the questions I've weighed since becoming pregnant last November.

Oliver is nearly 3 months now. With his 2 month pediatric appointment come and gone, and his next one in a few days, I am knee deep in this decision. Even if he receives all of his shots this Friday he will still be on a "delayed schedule" as we opted out last time. Currently our decision stands that we will choose to vaccinate him (on the basis of preventing death, but also making access to future school and travel easier) for only severe illnesses. This means we will opt out of the chicken pox (varicella) vaccine and all seasonal flu vaccines. We will, however, boost his immunity through the homeopathic flu shot which you can read about on one of my earlier blog posts. He will, therefore, be receving the mandatory DPTP and MMR but I have to say I am not looking forward to helping him through this tough appointment.

Recently I read "Your Child's Best Shot" by Ronald Gold and was very disappointed to see how biased it was. It was essentially 400 pages of assurance that there are barely any risks or side effects of vaccination, and scare tactics about the potential risks of the relevant illnesses. The book also featured information about past, subpar vaccinations put out to the public and how we've miraculously (note my sarcasm) improved them. By my logic, if a previous shot was, at that time, promoted as safe and is now seen as risky, could we not assume that future editions of this book will feature information on how 2011's vaccination versions were inadequate? We never know what future research will show us about things that we currently have confidence in: see thalidomide.

But here's a book that's worth its weight in gold: Dr. Sears' The Vaccine Book. He is a brilliant man, promoting concepts and philosophies well before his time. I believe future generations will look back on his books and say "This is what changed everything." Because the public library does not offer it, I recommend purchasing it now!



What a hard decision for any parent, but how lucky we are to have this information at our finger tips.

31 Days: Day 4

I'll admit, this is getting hard. Even 24 hours past is hard to remember, detail for detail. I can only do my best...

Calvin woke up early for work but Ollie and I laid around for a bit. When I was positive that he was content and ready to be alone for a few minutes I propped him up on our bed, where I could see him from the bathroom, and hopped in the shower. Fellow moms will know - this is a great victory. Every shower is a glorious reward. Once we were rip-roarin' ready for the day we bundled up and went for a long walk. We ended up at the library (pretty much always do) only to find out that I was wrong about my on-hold book being ready for pick up (incidentally it is ready today but I don't know if I'll have time to get it). We got home and I finished my grape juice oatmeal and unloaded the dishwasher. Calvin got off work early so he could pick the two of us up around 1 for Oliver's first ever pediatrician appointment. This doctor is incredible - I would recommend her to anyone. He was examined, and weighed (11 lbs, 1 oz - my speed grower) and then we discussed vaccination. His doctor is comfortable with us taking more time to decide although Ontario's recommended schedule begins at 2 months. (See my discussion below.) After that the day becomes a blur. At some point I ate lentils. Calvin and Jordan left to pick up a secondary Rogers box so that we can have cable downstairs on the projector (hello 100" screen for Leafs games!). We watched Glee. We ate acorn squash with tomato manicotti and baked shrimp. And somewhere along the line I fell asleep.

So what do you think about vaccination? I've been thinking about it since the moment my pregnancy test was positive and I still haven't come to a conclusion (not unlike my circumcision dilemma). What I know for sure is that I am opting out of any vaccines for non-life threatening illnesses such as chicken pox and influenza. If a situation arises that these illnesses would become more serious (pox after age 10, a severe strain of flu coming through our area) I would re-open the issue. But then there is the case of DTPT and MMR. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if Oliver contracted any of these things on my watch, at the same time how would I feel if he suffered side effects of the shot? I've been told there are aluminum-free options in Ontario, I will definitely look into that. Some people also recommend a delayed schedule which is interesting to me. I think it would be nice to wait until he's older to go through this stress on his body. If time allows I will try to read Dr. Sears' book on this subject to get better insight. What are the consequences of being unvaccinated in Ontario, especially related to travel and education? If you have an opinion feel free to post below. I know my blog is well-read (the page views are so encouraging - I can't believe how popular this is becoming!) but I don't often receive comments, so I'm encouraging anyone reading this to let me know how you feel on this post.

Thanks my friends!

Updates!

I start so many things and don't remember to let my blog readers know the progress or outcome. Very bad!

I am now almost seven months pregnant. I feel the baby kick, move and do daily P90X exercises probably 400 times a day. We don't know the sex - this has proven to be very exciting! I'm really happy that Calvin made that call and encouraged me not to find out because had I, we would have only the joy of a nicely coloured room and wardrobe and none of the joy of the excitement of not knowing. It seems like a small thing, and dull in comparison to the rush of seeing your baby for the first time, knowing they are healthy, etc. but I promise that the "it's a boy" or "it's a girl" moment is right up there is anticipation for both of us. We have some baby showers lined up which is great and we're putting together lists of what we want and need. We know for sure we'll be breast feeding, if all goes well. For that I'll be taking New Roots Mama Milk tincture and probably a daily tea of various herbs. (I'll also be taking red raspberry tea starting soon to help with uterine muscle toning.) We are still so undecided about vaccination because new pros and cons come up every day. Minor ones like chicken pox are a no brainer - my child doesn't need a needle to protect it from a few itchy bumps. But ones that impact the ability to attend school, and travel, are trickier.

My garden is growing and wonderful. I have a planter box attached to my deck of beautiful herbs, and another planter box that I call the salad box, which has various edible microgreens including spinach. Then there's a ground planter of mint (can be invasive, not going to put it in the ground for fear it'll take over) and a planter of cherry tomatoes so that I can grab them nice and quick right outside the sliding glass door. The main plot has a flower section (lilac and sunflowers), the berry forest (strawberries, raspberries and a cedar) and the veggie plot which has tomatoes, onions, carrots, zucchini, cucumber, corn, beans, squash, pumpkin, kale, broccoli, peppers and eggplant. I might be forgetting something but I think I have it all, short of an orchid in my front entrance.

I am exactly half way through my school courses. Two down, two to go. It is very interesting and definitely preparing me for wherever natural nutrition will take me, career-wise.

I will finish off with a "recipe" for a nice warm-weather drink, one that I am enjoying right now. You typically see recipes for whole pitchers of beverages but when you just want a cup for you here's an easy way to do it.

Mint Lemonade

In a heat proof glass or mug, mix 6 fresh mint leaves with 1/2 cup boiling water. Let sit for 2 minutes.
Add 10 drops stevia extract.
Add 2 T lemon juice.
Fill the glass or mug to the top with ice and drink, making sure not to swallow any mint.