Vaccinations

The time has come for Jaxson's two month check-up, which is the time that the CDC recommends that all children get 6 vaccinations one of which is a combo shot, so really that means 8 different vaccinations. For those of you that don't have kids it might seem like no big deal to vaccinate, but most parents I know have put a lot of thought into whether or not to vaccinate. Thanks to people like Jenny McCarthy, and others for speaking out about a possible causational link between vaccinations and the onset of autism, many parents including myself have started to do their research.

When Wyatt was born we inoculated him up. He had the hefty doses at 2 and 4 months. I had heard about possible links to autism and was hesitant to give Wyatt the vaccines on the schedule recommended by the CDC and my doctor. I didn't do my due diligence and research as I am now, and I deeply regret that. At 6 months we went in for Wyatt's third round of shots (5 that day) since birth. Afterward, I dropped him off at our wonderful sitter's. She is a completely competent mother of three who had never before called me out of concern for Wyatt's health. She sounded very unsettled on the phone and told me that Wyatt had become "listless" and was running a fever. I immediately went and picked him up. I was shocked to find my normally alert, bubbly 6 month old lying down staring into space with glazed eyes. He was a shell of the baby he normally was. I cannot describe it accurately enough, but it wasn't like he was sick, it was like he was sick and wasn't present either. I cried the entire way home praying to God and making deals if he would just be OK. I remember vividly lying on the floor with him and bawling. I called the doctor and they seemed unconcerned. It was apparently normal to have such "lethargy". I was to call back if it continued beyond a few days. So, I watched like a hawk. Luckily, Wyatt was more himself the next day and each day after he sort of came back. No one will ever know if we were on the brink of losing him to autism or not. It is entirely possible that his symptoms were a normal benine reaction. But, he has never had a shot since. I cringe at the memory of such a dark time for me personally. The guilt I felt thinking that maybe I had done that to him was paralyzing.

Now, we have Jaxson. My gut reaction is to tell the doctor that we will not be vaccinating at all. Part of me wants to space out the vaccines that I select. We still have a few weeks for me to make my decision and I have started research that is reminiscent of a senior thesis. I will post my condensed findings here as soon as I have them sorted out. Hopefully, it will be of some use to other parents no matter what my final decision will be.