I realized I never explained that you can get exemptions for “mandatory” vaccinations for your kids. All 50 states have some exemption. Exemptions fall into 3 categories:
Medical – requires doctor exemption based on health. For example if you are allergic to an ingredient in a vaccine.
Philosophical – any personally held beliefs.
Religious – any religious beliefs.
Each state is different as far as how hard they make it to get an exemption. In NY I hear that you have to “prove” you belong to a religion with a problem with vax. Silly if you ask me since religious beliefs are by… Continue reading Vaccinations: NOT Mandatory
I personally love New Year’s Resolutions. As Benjamin Franklin, a great believer in self-improvement, said, “Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.” I think most people get turned off from resolutions because no one ever tells us how to make one. Resolutions are different from goals. Goals are more wide sweeping overall visions of what we want. Resolutions are very specific choices. So, for example, “I will lose weight” is not a resolutions – it is a goal. A resolution would be “I will switch
I wish I had posted on Christmas day because we had a wonderful Christmas. The last 3 days though I have been so sick. Nausea and vomiting. I figured I ate something bad but was still feeling yucky this morning. We had our normal midwife appt today that took a wrong turn. My blood pressure was 155/90! (High blood pressure can be a symptom of pre-eclampsia also called toxemia) So, she did the non-stress test and I worked on relaxing (sometimes my bp is high when I’m stressed). When she took it again it was 148/something. I had to go… Continue reading Crash Course at the Birth Center
I was at the midwife’s yesterday (down 2 more lbs.!) and they have a TV looping CNN Health features. It is nice to have some entertainment in the waiting room but yesterday there was a huge segment about the Flu Vaccine. A few months ago this wouldn’t have phased me. I had never had a flu shot but *shrug* to each his own was my feeling. Now that I KNOW better I was shocked at how full of lies this promotion was.
First off, the nasal spray vaccine, FluMist, is a live virus. You are very likely to get flu-like symptoms… Continue reading Vaccinations: The Flu Vax is Modern Snake Oil
Every-time I go to Burlington Coat Factory I think “why don’t I shop here more often?” For some reason I always forget. They really have great stuff and their prices are out of this world. And, guess what? They have maternity! I was just looking because I didn’t want to spend money on more maternity clothes. Well, I found a great dressy top to wear at Christmas for $5.99! It is a plum color with satin accents and a square neckline. It is really cute and so cheap! I also got the most comfortable nursing bra I’ve found yet for…wait… Continue reading Retail Therapy
I found this pic of what my baby looks like. Kinda. This is a BOY…no scrotum or penis for Aellyn.
And, this is an image of how crowded she is and why I can feel her every twitch (and hiccup!)
Yesterday my mom and sister and I baked Christmas cookies! I absolutely LOVE Christmas and I think baking cookies is a warm hug of christmas spirit! We made mexican wedding cookies (snowballs), peanut butter blossoms, butter cookies, and my sister’s famous chocolate chip cookies. It was a blast and made much easier with the awesometastic stand mixer mom and dad got me for christmas last year. We’ve decided this year to have a christmas brunch and then just graze on cookies, summer sausage, cheese logs, and truffles for the rest of the day instead of making a dinner. I’m going… Continue reading Cookies and Cigarettes
We’ve been working on our birth plan. I didn’t include information about induction/augmentation because my primary audience is hospital personnel and not my midwives per se.
Labor
· I would like to have no restrictions on food or fluids during my labor.
· I would like the freedom to move around at will.
· Please do not offer pain medications unless I ask for them.
· As long as the baby and I are healthy, I prefer to have no time limits on pushing. It’s important to me to push instinctively. I do not want
In my previous posts on vaccinations I covered my concerns with Hep B, polio and to a smaller extent MMR. In general I believe the following illnesses to be normal parts of childhood that actually improve immune health when acquired naturally and that vaccination is pushing the diseases to older populations (see discussion on chicken pox).
- Measles
- Mumps
- Rubella
- Pertussis (whooping cough)
- Varicella (Chicken pox)
- Influenza
I probably won’t talk about these much more because they are in the “duh” category for me. It is just silly to choose reactive poisons and chemicals in vaccines over non-life threatening… Continue reading Vaccinations: DTaP
