Fike's Lives

Yesterday, Mark had his 18 month check up. He is very much on the small side, but his weight for his height is appropriate, so they aren't concerned about it. He is 31 1/2 inches tall and weights 22lb 11oz. I think that put him in the 5th percentile? I don't remember. As for the actual check up, I met a newer doctor, Dr. Dobbs. She seemed very sweet, and was very patient with Mark. Mark is normally very good at these things, but it was not his day. I had to get his iron checked a couple of weeks ago and he didn't even notice they had pricked his finger, he was just fascinated with with the band aid they put on him.

Anyways, as always, when Dr. Dobbs got to the vaccination sheet, she was very surprised. There are only two shots on there. The Hib shot and one follow up. Dr. Dobbs was very polite and asked me as to why that was, and I explained to her my reasonings. I am not opposed to vaccines. I have done my research for a long time, long before Mark was born, going down to even the specific ingredients of each vaccine. If you ever want to be grossed out, read the ingredients and find out what they really are. After praying about it and truly studying the effects and what not, I came down to the conclusion that for the most part overall, vaccinations are a good thing. However, I was finding many issues with how aggressively they are administered. Many of the shots have to be repeatedly administered, mainly due to the young age. They don't effectively take hold. Many times there have been children to get the chicken pox shot, only to still receive it later as an example. Waiting until a child is older seems to be the most efficient way to guarantee, to me, the best health and protection to my child. Mark doesn't have to get as many shots over all, they take better, and I don't feel like I am allowing a boat load of foreign stuff in his system all at one time.

The proposed scheduling(http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/medical/immunization_chart.html) for shots calls for:

• 3 shots of Hep B before 18 months
• 5 shots of Dtap(Diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis vaccine) by the time the child is 6 yrs.
• 4 shots of Hib: Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine by 15 months
• 4 shots of IPV: Inactivated poliovirus vaccine by 6 yrs.
• 4 shots of PCV: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine by 15 months
• 3 shots of Rota: Rotavirus vaccine by 6 months
• 2 shots of MMR: Measles, mumps, and rubella (German measles) vaccine between ages 12 month to 6 yrs.
• 2 shots of Varicella (chickenpox) vaccine between 12 months and 6 yrs.
• 2 shots of Hep A: Hepatitis A vaccine; given as two shots at least 6 months apart between 12-23 months.
• 3 shots of HPV: Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for girls, given as 3 shots over 6 months. Also recommended for girls ages 13 to 18 years if they have not yet been vaccinated. Suggested between 11-12 yrs old.
• 2 shots of MCV4: Meningitis vaccine; also recommended for younger children from certain high-risk groups, as well as 13- to 18-year-olds who have not yet been vaccinated. Suggested at 11-12 yrs and for college entrants.

There are many that would argue that the multiple shots are needed as extra protections for the younger the child is, due to their low immune systems. In some cases I agree, but I also know that breastfeeding also allows a lot of the same protections until the babe is about 6 months. They literally have Mommy's protection. But not all children are breastfed for various reasons.

There are so many different risk, and while many are extremely low and truly rare, I have had enough close family be seriously and permanently affected negatively by vaccines for me to know I need to be careful. Ethan himself ended up with a mild version of the measles after getting his MMR. I will not be talked into doing something I think can be willfully harmful to my child when waiting seems to be a better option. He is getting older and will slowly be getting them, one at a time, I don't care if I need to go ever other week for 4 months, I will deal with it. I think the next one will end up being Dtap, mainly because of the pertussis (whooping cough). Again, not against vaccines, just want him to be older to better be able to handle them.