VACCINATIONS...

Well...we did it. My daughter is now vaccinated for seasonal and H1N1.

I debated about it for months. I was worried about the hoopla and the conspiracy behind the H1N1. The connection people are making between Autism and vaccinations. I worried about all of her vaccinations. But I never felt like a had a good grasp or could believe what I read, no matter the side. Since her birth she has had her vaccinations, but I wasn't sure about the flu. I found myself keeping her away from kids completely and paranoid about her getting sick without protection (the shot). In the end I started feeling irresponsible about it. I know there are tons of parents out there that do not believe in any sort of vaccinations, but those families are living much differently than we do. It's not to say that we wouldn't want to live healthier, but we don't eat organic, take vitamins, exercise, or take any extra steps to keep ourselves healthy. So why was I putting my daughter at risk? And if we've given her every recommend vaccination since birth what's the difference now? I decided that she's a little older now and I feel a little better about the flu vaccinations...enough to go ahead with it.

We were at the doctors to check Brianlily's weight. The last time we were there we noticed she had lost some weight. I hadn't thought of it, but we were stupidly diluting her formula because of the cost. We're on one income and even with WIC, it's just so expensive. We did it for about 3 weeks. I took her in for a rash she had, and that's when we noticed her weight was lower. I was too embarrassed to even mention what we were doing, but knew we had to stop right away and we did. Her weight is back up and turns out her recent cranky loss of appetite, which I thought was because she's teething, is due to a looming ear infection! UGH! My poor baby! It's so hard knowing these are all firsts.

Which leads me into antibiotics! I was given a prescription for amoxicillin for her ear. I decided to wait it out and see if it actually turns into something (the dr notice a little redness and fluid). I just think of my childhood filled with loads of bubble gum flavored medicine. As a child and even into adulthood I was constantly sick and on some form of antibiotics. I had problems with my salivary glands swelling and throat infections all the time. At about 24 years old I had my tonsils removed. Since then I rarely get sick-once a year is too many times. The gland problem continued and I was found to have a stone in a salivary gland. They told me it is most caused by excessive consumption of antibiotics! It wasn't until last year that the stone popped out on it's own. Something that I had been suffering from since childhood was over. Now I don't have either problem...now the new problem is that the location of the stone is wide open and I squirt saliva like a snake!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA

In the end, I just worry that my daughter will suffer a similar fate because of he way we consume medications. I don't want to pump her up with things that, in large quantities, has health risks. That goes for mercury causing autism, antibiotics weakening immune systems and causing more illness, or any one of the thousands of risks. I just worry...that's all.