Friday, May 20, 2011

To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate???

That is the question.  But I don't plan on giving you the answer.  Just my opinion and my experience.  =)

When my oldest was born, she was given every shot in the book.  I was so excited thinking she'd never get any diseases at all.   I mean, how could she?  She'd been given so many vaccinations that there really couldn't be too many diseases left to get!

By the time my second was born, I had began to wonder about the whole thing.  My husband was for it.  He assumed that it was the way to go considering that we and everyone we knew had been vaccinated.  Especially me.  I'd traveled over seas so many times while I was growing up and each time called for another round of chemicals...oops!  I think I'm giving my opinion away a little pre-maturely. 

By the time our third was born, I had been able to reason myself and my husband out of getting the kids all the vaccinations their doctors tried to throw our way.  We did some.  The "important" ones.  Don't ask me which were important and which were not.  The truth is, I was very confused and I will admit that I still don't understand all there is to know about this particular subject.  I simply knew that injecting chemicals and live viruses into the blood streams of my children just didn't sound like a sweet, loving thing to do...let alone safe.

Our fourth child came along so quickly after the third that I didn't really change in my thinking too much.  I really didn't want to allow her to be vaccinated at all.  But, this whole complicated thing was too much for me. Peer-pressure won and we decided to be "safe" and go ahead with the "important" vaccinations.

The turning point of no return:

The day Jennabeth got her 4 month shots was not out of the ordinary.  I took all 4 kids to the doctor's office.  The oldest was 5.  The youngest 4 months.  The third barely walking.  The second barely potty trained due to kidney reflux.  My life was chaos.  It was busy and I was frazzled.  I don't remember much.  Wesley and Jennabeth both got shots that day, and possibly Lexxi.  She would have been starting school that year.  All I remember was AFTER the vaccinations were complete the nurse had me sign the consent forms.  (A little late at this point.)  I remember seeing one that I'd never seen before.  I asked about it and was told that it was a vaccination for Rota-Virus.  I was immediately alarmed.  The others had not ever received that one, and Rota-Virus is not something to play with.

That afternoon went fine.  The kids ate lunch, except for Jenna who seemed tired.   So I put the kids to bed for a nap.  Jennabeth slept quite a bit longer than usual, but I didn't think much of it since she'd just been shot.  Let me tell you, when that child woke up, she woke up - screaming!  She screamed her head off for 3 hours.  There was nothing I could do.  I tried everything.  She ran a temp and had diarrhea and screamed and screamed.  She was not herself at all.  And when you looked at her eyes she didn't even seem to register what was going on around her.  She just screamed.

The screaming stopped as quickly as it had began.  She literally went from ear piercing screams to dead silent.  That was scary!  She was still breathing, but her complexion was a funny pale-ish color.  Not really white, but defiantly not normal.  When I picked her up, she threw up like a big kid.  Not like little baby spit ups.  And what was worse she didn't seem to care or notice.  I cleaned her up.   The whole time she was limp and lethargic.  Even the cold water I used to clean her up didn't get a reaction.  I talked to her.  She didn't seem to hear.  I touched the side of her face she didn't seem to feel it.  NOTHING seemed to register in here eyes.  Her fever spiked.  By this time the other kids were in bed.  My husband was out of town and I didn't have a way to get to the hospital.  I called 2 very trusted mothers, one of whom was a nurse.  They both said it was probably due to the shots and not to worry.  Ummm...hello!!  I was desperate.  I even banged pots and pans to see if she'd look my direction.  Nothing!

That was a long night.  She slept off and on.  I held her the whole time in case she stopped breathing.  I was afraid.  I prayed that night.  Hard!  I wondered if she survived the ordeal, would she ever be the same again.  Would she be the happy, giggly baby she'd been before?

She did improve.  The "symptoms" or "reactions" seemed to ware off by morning and I marched my tired, angry self and baby Jennabeth down to the doctor's office the next morning.  I told them what had happened.  They said it sounded like Rota-Virus.  When they checked the paper with the list of possible reactions she'd had every one except for the "possibly death".  They were unconcerned since she "was still with us and just fine now".  ~ Their words!!!

Needless to say, we don't go to that doctor anymore and we don't shoot our children anymore! 

I still don't understand all of the complicated issues that surround this subject.  I know that people on both sides of this debate feel strongly about what they believe and why.  But, I also know that, as a mom, I always doubted that it was the right thing to do.  I just can't help but wonder why we would want to inject man-made chemicals and live viruses into our children's bodies.  If Jennabeth had never been given that shot, she'd never have had to fight for her life like she did that night when she was a baby. 

God made our immune systems in such a way so that we can fight off our sicknesses on our own.  God provided things in nature to help us care for ourselves and prevent illness.  If we should happen to get sick, there are things we can use to restore health as well.  I just don't think inserting man-made chemicals into our bodies is the way to go.






Our Jennabeth------------>
God, in His love and mercy took care of our baby.  
She's a wild woman, full of spunk and life.
She suffered no lasting effects from the vaccinations 
that nearly took her life.
God has been good to us!










~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you're new to Hidden Treasures, we'd love to invite you to stay a little while and look around.  You can connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.  Or you can choose to have our post delivered directly to your E-mail or RSS feed.  Thank you so much for taking the time to read our posts!  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4 comments:

  1. Angela.. as I read this I couldn't help but shed some tears.. As a mother myself I couldn't even BEGIN to imagine how you felt that night worried about your baby Jennabeth. I would have been a nut case!
    I agree with you on the vaccinations,they are hard to understand,and can be very confusing! I held off as long as I could on the chicken-pox vac.but they had to have it before they could start school. I was SO sick that the day they got the injection from thinking about it.
    Praise the Lord that he protected your baby girl that night knowing that you had your hands full with your other babies and husband gone.
    I LOVE reading your Blogs! :)
    Mary Jane

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Angela. I decided not to vaccinate my 2 boys, and it has been a battle! From the doctors making me feel like my children would die without the shots, to family members not agreeing, and some parents not letting their children play with my kids. I believe if parents were told the truth about these shots and not lies, then parents could make the best decision regarding their family. Chemicals are not good for your body period. I am loving your blog and all your ideas!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Angela, I have enjoyed reading all your posts! I just wanted to tell a little of my son's story. Joshua was born in October of 2009 and was supposed to receive his 2 month vaccinations after Christmas. I was always nervous about them with my other two children and would pray so hard before, during, and after that God would protect them from the side effects. My little Joshua started getting sick right around Christmas and over the next couple of weeks continued to get worse. He was strangling on his own mucus and turning blue in the middle of the night. We literally stopped sleeping and took turns watching him to make sure he could breathe. It was terrifying. I took him to the doctor and because the worst of his episodes happened at night, they said he had a cold/respitory thing and it would just have to run its course. By January 15th, he was having strangling episodes during the day and night, turning blue, not able to breath. We changed to a new doctor and he said it sounded like the symptoms of Pertussis or "the whooping cough". We took Joshua to Scottish Rites and they admitted him and he came back positive for Pertussis. We don't know to this day how he caught it and he wasn't quite old enough to be vaccinated when he contracted it. During that time we heard this disease was on the rise and babies in other parts of the country had died from it. It was so scary to see him so sick. We were very blessed that he recovered and was able to get over the illness. The cough literally lasted from December to nearly March and it was a while before we felt safe letting him sleep in his room away from us. I definitely approach the whole vaccination thing with anxiety because I agree that injecting viruses into our childrens litte bodies is frightening. I also fear the diseases they are supposed to prevent and the effects of those as well. It is definitely a difficult choice. I have gotten Joshua vaccinated since then on the normal schedule, but I still pray every time! His doctor doesn't give the Rotovirus vaccination and after hearing your story, I am glad! Thanks for all your advice and tips on this blog. I haven't followed blogs before but am enjoying yours very much!

    ReplyDelete
  4. wow, we had a similar experience too! we have called 911 3 times in my 19 month olds life. She too had that same reaction to the rotoviris, lethargic etc...u are way brave to have stayed home! We went by ambulance (glad u didn't have to do that) and stayed in the hospital 3 days:( all that to say, 2 more trips, shots, fibrile seizures, and we are DONE WITH SHOTS! My newborn now 5 mo almost, has only had 1 round thats it. and we stopped shots on my 19 month old. We went to a naturlist/wholistic doctor, and first and foremost we pray and beleive God over her and she is healed:) Excited to read over ur recipes and healthy playdough for my 19 mo old who is into everything!

    blessings
    Kelly

    ReplyDelete