Hib Shot Today

Braelyn had her first vaccination today (besides those stupid hep b's in the hospital which I'm still peeved about). Today she had her shot to protect her (even though vaccines have notoriously low efficacy rates!) from the haemophilius influenzae b virus which can cause pneumonia, meningitis, etc. Most babies get this at 2,4,6,&15 months.

Jay and I have decided to be selective about the vaccines she'll receive and to delay her shots to protect her as much as we can from some of the bad (often tragic) side effects of vaccinations. So, we do NOT adhere to the CDC's ridiculous schedule. I started researching about vaccines a month or so after Braelyn was born. It concerns me how many serious side effects occur from the ingredients - such as : aluminum, mercury (its still in some shots), formaldehyde, aborted fetal tissue- in these shots that we are injecting in our babies. I became very skeptical after my day old baby was given an immunization for hepatitis B, which is spread through infected needles or sex. Why would you give a newborn a shot for THAT? (Research it enough and you'll see there's a pharmaceutical company out there who is making money off their shot getting injected into every American baby)

Well, I can go on and on about the vaccine issue. It is a very scary thing, and many parents aren't fully aware of all the side effects and long term health problems attributed to vaccines. Parents also aren't aware that they have a choice when it comes to vaccinating their child. Texas allows 3 exemptions - religious, medical, or philosophical. Parents also have a choice about the schedule of vaccines, when they want to give the shots, which ones they want to give. Though there is a challenge in finding the right doctor, one who will respect your decision. We were lucky (thank you, Amy & Meredith) to find Dr. Bain in Frisco - she's wonderful.

For us, this whole thing is a risk-benefit decision. There are certain shots we are going to give her, as the risk for the side effects of the shot are lower than the risk of her contracting the illness and having serious complications. Hib was one of those shots. The other are Dtap (which is the scariest one for me, I'm still on the fence a little bit since this shot has the highest incidence of serious reactions) and MMR (which we'll split up into three different shots; the combination shot has alarming statistics as far as tragic side effects) We're not giving Braelyn immunizations for polio, pneumococcal, rotavirus, influenza, hepatitis A, varicella, or meningococcal. We also may delay rubella until she's a teenager. We will not be giving her the gardasil (hpv) either.

Since this has become such a passionate issue for me, it was really difficult this morning signing off on the injection! I've also had to restrain myself from calling the babysitter every hour or so to check on Braelyn! I've only called once and she's doing fine. She took the shot pretty well - just one tiny cry, and then a huge smile. With all the research I've done on vaccines, its really hard not to worry , but I have to keep in mind that God has guided me to this decision and he will watch over Braelyn.