Jake is sleeping in his toddler bed!!!!!
I'm not getting excited. I'm not going to jump up and down! I'm not I'm not I'm not!!!
But I can't help the excited butterflies in my tummy, which I'm trying so hard to contain!
See, we weren't going to attempt the crib-to-bed transition again until we get back from our trip (since any new sleep habits will most-likely be lost by the time we get back), but alas, both boys are in the midst of "sleep training" just a week before we leave. Brilliant, huh.
This morning in my sleepy-waking-up daze, I noticed that my alarm clock (aka Jake's cry) seemed to sound like it was moving. As I laid there, eyes tightly shut and fighting the early morning as I always do, I felt my heart drop as I suddenly sat up in bed. I said aloud, "It sounds like Jake is moving!" I listened intently again & confirmed that something wasn't right. The cry wasn't coming from the diagonal left, it was indeed coming from the diagonal right! What a start, what a shock, and what an unplanned can of worms he just opened- by discovering how to climb out of his crib!
Or so I thought.
Think.
I don't know. I'll have to tell you tomorrow. And in 2 weeks when we get back from vacation.
But the butterflies I have right now... that would be because I expected a fiasco. I read all day about this transition. (Trying to find ways to avoid what happened last time, trying to find positive methods, gentle methods, tricks, treats, bits & bops, anything!)
But it wasn't a fiasco. No sirree, Bob! (hat tip to my sissy.) I got a sleepy toddler who smiled a quiet smile at me, whispered his prayer (next topic & more happy butterflies), and who stayed in bed and slept when I left the room. WHAT!!??!!?? Are you kidding me!?!?! I am shocked!!! And so pleasantly surprised.
But like I said, I'll tell you tomorrow. The night is young!
The floor is padded. And I'm ready.
Okay, so about the prayer...
3 nights ago he said his first prayer!!! He whispers it, and it's so sweet!
"JeeJuh" (Jesus)
"DehDoo JeeJuh" (Thank you Jesus)
"IIIIIIIIII JeeJuh" (I love you Jesus)
"AhMn" (Amen)
(p.s. that's how he says I love you, just a long & endearing IIIIIIII, but you can see it all over his face & hear it in his voice. He really is a sweet-heart.) The first night he said his prayer, my smile was so big that he said "AhMn" 3 times! Aww!
The last thing I wanted to add to this post is something I just read online that I didn't know. Thought I'd share. It's about organics & purely informational.
We try our best to eat organic fruits & veggies (especially those without hard skins or those known to be more pesticide-laden) and always organic milk & eggs. I've been doing this a while, for as long as I can remember buying food, & don't talk much about it just because I think people should do whatever they want & I don't want anybody to ever think I'm being hoity-toity or anything. I have my own reasons, I am just doing what I think is best for my family & situation.
Which is why I don't bring it up! Even that sentence could sound bad if it's said to someone who doesn't buy organic! A few months ago, a close friend of mine randomly bombarded me & started spewing all these facts about hormone-free milk and organics and feeding cows, etc, trying to prove that organic wasn't 'that' important and (I think) to justify her decision to not buy organic. I didn't bring the topic up. I definitely would never want her (or anyone) to feel a need to justify anything or compare. I love talking about stuff, learning from others, sharing information, whatever. But this was a bombardment! I have reasons, and I had answers to all of her points! But I sorta bit my tongue because I was afraid if I "defended" my reasons, that she would think I was saying that her way was wrong or bad for her child or something. I didn't want to play into the competition she seems to have started between the two of us. Whose way is right? This is just one of the many 'competitions' she's created: whose child does what first, who loses baby weight first, whose house is cleaner, ahh! Why would this cross her mind- why is there a need to compare anything!? It absolutely makes me crazy! Let's just BE. Be friends, hang out, live it together (no matter who weighs what or whose kid is happiest, what does that matter?) Wooh, venting! Sorry!
So back to the organics, I've always felt that mine is an informed decision, an educated decision even. I've read in accredited medical journals and educational material (CEUs: continuing education units), and have weighed the pros & cons (hello, cost!), and I still feel that it's worth it to me. Anyways, I'm absolutely not strict about it. I just get what is available & if we're eating somewhere else (which is not often) I honestly don't even think about it. Never crosses my mind unless we're eating strawberries, eek! (Someone said you might as well drink pesticides if you eat non-0rganic strawberries, and I can't get that image out of my head now! LOL)
But here's my point: my way of sparing costs is that I don't buy organic meat (because that's ridiculously expensive & some thing's gotta give!) I want to! I've thought about it a lot. If I can't be vegetarian, then I want to buy free-range, organic-fed. But meat is so expensive (to me) as it is. Every time I buy meat (without fail), I always hesitate. It's too expensive. Regular stuff, the cheapest stuff. It's hard for me to swallow. So I haven't taken the step to add the "organic" cost on top of the already high cost of meat. But tonight I read this:
"Non-organic meats have far higher concentrations of pesticides than all of the fruits and vegetables. And the highest concentration of pesticides is actually in non-organic butter.
So if you can only buy one organic food item, it should be butter. Next priority would be meats and once those are addressed, you will want to focus on the fruit and vegetable list above."
This was from Dr Mercola's website, and HERE's a link to the article. It's really good because it says which veggies/fruit are highest & lowest in pesticide concentration so you can prioritize which are more worth the 'splurge'.
Kinda puts perspective on my thinking, though. I guess I had it backwards, even though I think I've got such an informed decision! Next trip, butter & meat it is. Maybe I'll sacrifice some ice cream or some other non-essential grocery item to make up for the cost.
Something that freaked me out big-time when I was pregnant with Jake was when a study was done on human milk & there were substantial levels of pesticides in it.
It's the same kind of freak-out I had when I learned about the cancerous tumors that had the African monkey virus in them (on autopsy) in people who had never been anywhere near an African brown monkey. It was from a vaccine (given decades prior), as vaccines are grown in serum & organs of other animals!!! And this particular vaccine was grown in African brown monkey plasma... and now found in tumors... Wrap your mind around that!
(Inoculated with an unknown virus, {how do we know if there are any other unknown viruses, we'll never know, because they're unknown!}, protected from {fill in the blank}, culminated in cancer.) Oh vaccines... I could go on forever. It's the toughest decision I've encountered TO DATE in my whole TWO YEARS of motherhood. I've been reading statistics, case studies, ingredients & processing procedures... let me tell you, no amount of information makes this issue any clearer.
I have rambled SO much in this post that I'm cutting myself off!!! Sorry!!! Just wanted to share that organic info because I had no idea about the butter & meat!
Next post will be shorter & sweeter! :)
Showing posts with label vaccines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vaccines. Show all posts
8.15.2008
1.10.2008
To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate?
{{{Warning: this is a LONG post about vaccines...}}}
Tonight I stayed up late again, but doing something productive. I spent 120 minutes watching (& taking notes on) a DVD about vaccines. (It's called Vaccines - What CDC Documents and Science Reveal - Dr. Sherri J Tenpenny)
I borrowed it from Austin's chiropracter (along with a book called The Sanctity of Human Blood: Vaccination not Immunization by Tim O'Shea) .
I feel that it's clear what I need to do now, and I actually feel a huge knot in the pit of my stomach for all the vaccines that Jake has already had in his whole 18 months. It's unnerving. (?)
I watched this DVD with hesitance because I knew that it would shake my paradigms. I researched vaccines when I was in nursing school, but of course, that's nursing school. The medical community is sold on vaccines. I was too (sorta). Part of me always felt hesitant and even wrong about it, and that is the part of me that I was always convincing. Our vaccine schedules are out of control. Come on! Why do we need to vaccinate against all these things? Chickenpox!?! That is absolutely doing more harm than good! Now we're going to see more adults getting chickenpox (which is more dangerous) *and* shingles outbreaks! But the biggest argument I told myself in support of vaccination (besides the echo of my professor's voice in my head, praising vaccines and demeaning those parents who 'put their children at risk' by refusing them) was that "SO many people do it, and they're all fine." But the truth is, we don't know if they are. Why are autism, asthma, excema, cancer, etc increasing at alarming rates? This question has led me to seek natural products and organic foods, but my weak supportive stance on vaccination didn't budge. Until now, and it's simply wavering, a lot. I'm at the point where that small voice is now shouting- and I will definitely postpone any vaccines until I further research. I have to thoroughly research and read from "both sides."
They say there is no PROOF that vaccines can cause autism or any of the other forementioned disorders/diseases. But these epidemic increases in 'diseases' have coincided with the increase in vaccines given (see schedule stat below) and that says something to me. If nothing but a red flag, it's still not to be ignored. So we're supposedly preventing a bunch of relatively benign and/or extinct diseases, but is it possible that we're causing all these other devastating epidemics (ex: autism)? Maybe we're putting our children more at risk by vaccinating than we would be by refraining. I know for a fact that this is the case with the Pertussis vaccine (according to the CDC).
In 1985, kids got 17 vaccine antigens by age 6-months and 33 by the time they start school. NOW kids get 51 vaccine antigens by age 6-months and 77 by school age! (P.S. Not 77 shots, but 77 antigens... they combine them)
Anyways, I thought the main issue with vaccines that I was going to grapple with tonight (besides the idea of injecting foreign contaminants into a baby) was the thimerasol. My doctor already told me that his MMR is thimerasol-free. But, HOLY COW! Have you ever heard of Vaccine Viral Contaminants? It's totally shocking! Enough to convince me!
The reason I had to stay up late doing this *tonight* is because tomorrow is the 18-month appointment where I "promised" my doctor I would finally let him give Jake the MMR. (Was supposed to be at 12-months, but I refused at the last 2 appts, out of sheer fear!) And it's also Austin's 10-week appointment, where he's supposed to get his first vaccines (a total of 4 shots: DTap, Ipol, HIB-HepB, and Prevnar... that's a LOT more antigens because at least 3 of those 4 are combination shots!)
At this point, I truely don't want to deal with the doctor tomorrow and the pressure (see previous post, about how he's my colleague, etc), so I think I'll just cancel their appt and make one with Dr Sears in the meantime. I need to be ready if I'm going to face him with another refusal because last time it didn't go as planned. I managed to refuse the MMR because I was adamant, and not without a guilt trip, but after that fiasco I ended up not speaking up when they fanagled the chickenpox vaccine into the schedule without warning! And what I learned, as I went out to the car and cried in the parking lot because I allowed my voice to be silenced (because I felt that I had already caused too much of an issue about the MMR and didn't want to be a "problem" patient), was to be strong and BE the advocate for my babies! I felt very strongly about the chickenpox vaccine and I allowed myself to be bullied into it! And it's not my own health affected, it's my sons! (Which makes it even worse!)
Anyways, I'm asking questions. I'm remaining open. Being a parent is such a huge responsibility-- some of my decisions are driven by fear and 'what if'. I've rationalized doing (or not doing) things by the thought: "If something happened, I would never forgive myself." I didn't allow myself the glass of wine during pregnancy that we are "allowed", I vaccinated Jake, I didn't work-out to prevent another irritable uterus/preterm situation, I'm putting Austin on his back-to-sleep to prevent SIDS despite the "flat" spot on his head... We do everything we can to protect our kids. The "what ifs" in life are sometimes scarey, but definitely not something to dwell on. I have to keep myself in check, and remind myself that God is in control and we don't need to live in fear. My children are in His loving hands. (sigh) It's like a breath of fresh air, such a relief!
Though I can't deny that the issue of vaccination is a hard one. Because the 'what-if' fear can apply to either side.
Anyways, I totally welcome any thoughts or references (for either side). I plan on reading more on the subject. I *knew* I would feel this way if I watched that video! But I'm so glad I did. There are more issues to consider than I originally thought. I'll leave you with a quote (off the top of my memory... I may get it wrong but you'll get the point-)
If BinLaden dropped a whole slew of Hepatitis, Polio, Smallpox, Rubella, and Pertussis over our country, we'd be screaming "biological warfare!" Yet we have no problem injecting our babies with them every day.
Ugh!
Tonight I stayed up late again, but doing something productive. I spent 120 minutes watching (& taking notes on) a DVD about vaccines. (It's called Vaccines - What CDC Documents and Science Reveal - Dr. Sherri J Tenpenny)
I borrowed it from Austin's chiropracter (along with a book called The Sanctity of Human Blood: Vaccination not Immunization by Tim O'Shea) .
I feel that it's clear what I need to do now, and I actually feel a huge knot in the pit of my stomach for all the vaccines that Jake has already had in his whole 18 months. It's unnerving. (?)
I watched this DVD with hesitance because I knew that it would shake my paradigms. I researched vaccines when I was in nursing school, but of course, that's nursing school. The medical community is sold on vaccines. I was too (sorta). Part of me always felt hesitant and even wrong about it, and that is the part of me that I was always convincing. Our vaccine schedules are out of control. Come on! Why do we need to vaccinate against all these things? Chickenpox!?! That is absolutely doing more harm than good! Now we're going to see more adults getting chickenpox (which is more dangerous) *and* shingles outbreaks! But the biggest argument I told myself in support of vaccination (besides the echo of my professor's voice in my head, praising vaccines and demeaning those parents who 'put their children at risk' by refusing them) was that "SO many people do it, and they're all fine." But the truth is, we don't know if they are. Why are autism, asthma, excema, cancer, etc increasing at alarming rates? This question has led me to seek natural products and organic foods, but my weak supportive stance on vaccination didn't budge. Until now, and it's simply wavering, a lot. I'm at the point where that small voice is now shouting- and I will definitely postpone any vaccines until I further research. I have to thoroughly research and read from "both sides."
They say there is no PROOF that vaccines can cause autism or any of the other forementioned disorders/diseases. But these epidemic increases in 'diseases' have coincided with the increase in vaccines given (see schedule stat below) and that says something to me. If nothing but a red flag, it's still not to be ignored. So we're supposedly preventing a bunch of relatively benign and/or extinct diseases, but is it possible that we're causing all these other devastating epidemics (ex: autism)? Maybe we're putting our children more at risk by vaccinating than we would be by refraining. I know for a fact that this is the case with the Pertussis vaccine (according to the CDC).
In 1985, kids got 17 vaccine antigens by age 6-months and 33 by the time they start school. NOW kids get 51 vaccine antigens by age 6-months and 77 by school age! (P.S. Not 77 shots, but 77 antigens... they combine them)
Anyways, I thought the main issue with vaccines that I was going to grapple with tonight (besides the idea of injecting foreign contaminants into a baby) was the thimerasol. My doctor already told me that his MMR is thimerasol-free. But, HOLY COW! Have you ever heard of Vaccine Viral Contaminants? It's totally shocking! Enough to convince me!
The reason I had to stay up late doing this *tonight* is because tomorrow is the 18-month appointment where I "promised" my doctor I would finally let him give Jake the MMR. (Was supposed to be at 12-months, but I refused at the last 2 appts, out of sheer fear!) And it's also Austin's 10-week appointment, where he's supposed to get his first vaccines (a total of 4 shots: DTap, Ipol, HIB-HepB, and Prevnar... that's a LOT more antigens because at least 3 of those 4 are combination shots!)
At this point, I truely don't want to deal with the doctor tomorrow and the pressure (see previous post, about how he's my colleague, etc), so I think I'll just cancel their appt and make one with Dr Sears in the meantime. I need to be ready if I'm going to face him with another refusal because last time it didn't go as planned. I managed to refuse the MMR because I was adamant, and not without a guilt trip, but after that fiasco I ended up not speaking up when they fanagled the chickenpox vaccine into the schedule without warning! And what I learned, as I went out to the car and cried in the parking lot because I allowed my voice to be silenced (because I felt that I had already caused too much of an issue about the MMR and didn't want to be a "problem" patient), was to be strong and BE the advocate for my babies! I felt very strongly about the chickenpox vaccine and I allowed myself to be bullied into it! And it's not my own health affected, it's my sons! (Which makes it even worse!)
Anyways, I'm asking questions. I'm remaining open. Being a parent is such a huge responsibility-- some of my decisions are driven by fear and 'what if'. I've rationalized doing (or not doing) things by the thought: "If something happened, I would never forgive myself." I didn't allow myself the glass of wine during pregnancy that we are "allowed", I vaccinated Jake, I didn't work-out to prevent another irritable uterus/preterm situation, I'm putting Austin on his back-to-sleep to prevent SIDS despite the "flat" spot on his head... We do everything we can to protect our kids. The "what ifs" in life are sometimes scarey, but definitely not something to dwell on. I have to keep myself in check, and remind myself that God is in control and we don't need to live in fear. My children are in His loving hands. (sigh) It's like a breath of fresh air, such a relief!
Though I can't deny that the issue of vaccination is a hard one. Because the 'what-if' fear can apply to either side.
Anyways, I totally welcome any thoughts or references (for either side). I plan on reading more on the subject. I *knew* I would feel this way if I watched that video! But I'm so glad I did. There are more issues to consider than I originally thought. I'll leave you with a quote (off the top of my memory... I may get it wrong but you'll get the point-)
If BinLaden dropped a whole slew of Hepatitis, Polio, Smallpox, Rubella, and Pertussis over our country, we'd be screaming "biological warfare!" Yet we have no problem injecting our babies with them every day.
Ugh!
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