And Back to Vaxes

No I'm not talking about going back to vaccinating my family. I talking about another vaccine blog on the topic. Our experiences and opinions.

A little back history- my oldest 5 children are vaccinated- most fully, but eventually all will be, I have chosen to finish theirs. Well with the exception of the newer vaccines (HPV for one). My middle 3 are still short on the chicken pox vax and will finish it because simply since they've already had one the likelihood of them contracting it naturally is slim to none but in the rare case they did contract as say adults, when the effectiveness is worn down, I don't want them to. So they will receive their boosters. Along with rubella (if there is any more shots needed) for the girls. Also now that my eldest children are mid and late teens I'm letting them take the reins on the decisions. T will probably never have a shot in his life- nor will he probably vaccinate his own children, when the time comes. He's outraged by the things that we allow to be injected into our bodies, and our childrens' bodies. He once asked me "Why would you let them put that in me?!" All I could answer was "Because I didn't know better and trusted what they told me I had to do- what was best for you."

And this was true. Back then I didn't know better- there really wasn't internet and info that was readily available to the uninformed was scarce. This was the early 90s and I was 18, my info came from those we were supposed to trust and rely on, those with the education and information I didn't have, nor would I be able to obtain easily (medical school was out of the question at that point). Things are different now- if you need information just Google it! And there are a lot more people to ask- there's been a shift in thought- don't ask don't tell is going the way of the dinosaur and people are asking, telling (hell some are shouting it from the roof tops!), and lots more are questioning.

A decision that took me years to make and a brand new backbone (or the confidence to face opposition) with lots of internal struggling still- took my DH less than a year to make. I've read and researched so much (needed to make the "right" decision ya know?), He read a few studies, a few articles, listened to what I found and experienced our first son's reaction to his vaccinations with me. And he made a decision and has never waivered, only gotten stronger. I wish I had that confidence. His stance: Our sons will never be vaccinated (again for C, ever for J). I still sometimes waiver between "Not at all" and "Later, much later- like after 5. And then just a select few." You can always vaccinate later- you can never undo a vaccination.

I hate to say it, it makes me really uncomfortable to think this way- But my family is a little science experiment. We have 7 children growing up in the same household- same foods, exposure to environment and mother (some father). And some are vaxed fully, some are not at all, some only just a few. And from here we'll be able to see the risks and affects- in a casual way. We'll be able to see if the youngers (that are unvaxed or have had just a few) will develop what the older full vaxed have. (Asthma, ADHD, food intolerance's) Yes I know some evidence is out there that genetic make up is involved but they have a lot of the same- more than random strangers in tests do. And we're not going to be publishing this as a formal study, rather we'll look at it and gain personal experience and opinion.

But I do wish this informal science experiment wasn't happening. I wish I had had the info I have now (and the backbone) 17 years ago.