Rolling with the punches

Natalie rolled over the first time yesterday, at the doctor's office. Yay, Natalie! She's weighing in at 10 pounds 16 ounces...that's what they wrote down on the paper. Gee, that's almost 11 pounds, isn't it? Funny thing is, that's what Jay's birth certificate says too.

Natalie also got some vaccines. Specifically, the Hepatitis B, HIB haemophilus influenzae type B (HIB), and Pneumococcal. She was also supposed to get the DTap and IPV/Polio,, but I asked that we space the out a bit, saying I'll come back in a two weeks. I also asked that DTaP vaccine not be paired in one shot with the polio vaccine, since the DPT is what my brother reacted to, and I like to watch her reaction that specific shot a bit more closely. So far, so good. She was a little warm and a little sleepier than usual, but the site reactions are minimal and she seems fine otherwise.

With my brother's reaction, the first shot resulted in a very high fever and bad site reaction. The reaction to the second shot was more violent, and the third shot put him in a coma and caused the brain damage. So, we go slow for the first round of vaccines and then relax more if there are no abnormal reactions.

Katie's the only one of our girls who have had a significant reaction, and that was to the MMR. She spiked a fever of 103+ and had a knot in her leg for over a year. Thankfully her second MMR shot wasn't as bad, but it was frightening.

I know all the hype and controversy about shots and the link to autism. I hear all the studies saying they are safe. But, here's the thing -- they said the DTP was safe in the early 80s, that it wasn't actually causing those supposed SIDS deaths and anaphalatic shock in the babies, that it was just a coincidence. And then in 1983 or '84, they apologized, said they were wrong, changed the vaccine formula to be a safer one. If they were wrong then, they could be wrong now, and I refuse to let them "be wrong" on my children.

And so, we're cautious. I'm grateful our new pediatrician doesn't fight me on it, understands my concerns. I promise to get them all the required vaccines by the time they are five, if only the medicial community will let me do it slowly and carefully.