9 Months, Vaccines, and Democracy

It's been a full day already. Corben had his 9 month appointment today. I was really nervous about this appointment because he is getting his first DTap vaccine. Let me go over the possible side effects so you understand why -

Number one, it is five vaccines in one - FIVE! And they want you to start this at 2 months! The combo DTap shot contains Polio, Hepatitus B, Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis. Because there is sooo much in it I wanted to separate it from the other vaccines he was given. I just thought it was a little too much for a two month old... well really any of it was too much for a two month old so we started vaccines at 4 months. Even now I wonder if six months might have been better. I think we will probably change the schedule a little with the next child. All you can do is what you think is best. That is all anyone can do, even the doctors. They don't know if your child is going to have a bad reaction, because every child is different. So all they can do is go by what the Pediatrics association recommends and we all just hope for the best. Sounds crazy doesn't it? This whole thing is so nerve racking... anyway back to the possible side effects: Seizures, non-stop crying for 3 hours or more, high fever,coma or lowered consciousness, permanent brain damage... etc. Some of these are very rare but this one has had the most serious "possible" side effects so far. Oh and another great thing, they can have some serious reactions up to a week after the shot.

My question is... are we so democratic that what is good for the masses outweighs what is life threatening for the few? It seems as though mob rule is accepted in this country. Why should we care about the individual when the masses are for it? Who cares that there have been deaths associated with vaccines, who cares that there have been cases of brain damage? That all just annoys me!

Don't get me wrong. Right now I think vaccines have their place... I just have sense enough to know that they are looking out for the masses and not specifically my son. So it's my job to be a proactive mom. Isn't that sad that that has to be a term? Shouldn't mom just imply proactive (I'm genuinely interested in my child's life and wellbeing). Sadly nowadays it is not.

Anyway, I didn't mean to get on my soapbox about all this it just kinda happened. This topic is a parents personal decision to loose sleep over and no one elses. Life would be easier if we just laid down and did what we were told, oh well.

So back to the doctor's visit. Corben is in the 50th percentile for height and weight, his hemoglobin was very high, and had no traces of lead in his bloodstream. He didn't even cry when they pricked his finger and collected blood. He was such a trooper! Everything checked out perfect and so far - no reaction to the vaccine. So I feel a little better. He's getting so big. Sad.