Me and My Friends and Shots

My neighbor called me the other day. She was wondering if I had a pediatrician that I could recommend. My immediate response, not even thinking how prying I might sound, "Oh, are you looking to get shots for kindergarten?"

She was most certainly NOT looking to get shots for kindergarten, though her son most likely will be starting kindergarten in the fall unless she decides to take the path of home schooling. She was just looking for a good pediatrician for her son's check up.

I respect and admire this neighbor's life choices. She is in education, and is raising her children as I would if I had more backbone. Very Waldorf. Home-based fun, natural fibers, hands-on, no electronics, no sugar, art and nature filled. But if there is one point where I differ from the hippie norm, it is on vaccinations.

Now let me say, I know where she is coming from. Vaccinations scare me also. But frankly a lot of things scare me where my children are concerned - microwaves, non-organic vegetables, fluoride, x-rays, computer usage, sunscreen. I could go on. But while I am worried, I don't let the worry change my behavior, because I believe the good outweighs the bad.

Vaccinations have accomplished amazing things. They have reversed the course of multiple crippling and deadly diseases. And so I love vaccinations. I can protect my children like no other generation has been able to before. How great is that!

I have another friend who raves about the miracle of vaccinations. This has been reassuring to me, and maybe also a bit of successful brainwashing. So I am seeking through this post not to judge other parents for their decisions, but to endorse vaccinations. According to Parents Magazine, 76% of the population is doing it! Join the bandwagon!

My friend's ringing praise has helped me feel at peace with taking the plunge each doctor visit to pin my kids down and allow a stranger to poke into them needles of chemicals. I can believe that I am not only helping them, but helping my community by keeping at bay these diseases that might spread to those unable to be vaccinated, like a new baby for example.

Last year, a child in Oscar's preschool who was not vaccinated came down with the chicken pox. Every other child in his class was vaccinated, so no one was particularly worried about contagion. But I was worried. Had Matilda had her full course of chicken pox vaccinations yet? I had to call the doctor and find out. So I did resent this. And just in case you belittle chicken pox, when chicken pox went through my neighborhood when I was a child, one of my friends caught it and it turned into shingles. Her face is scarred for life.

I must be completely honest here. A long time ago when I was pregnant with Marek, I discussed the birth plan and started to consider the pros and cons of vaccination. I did briefly consider not vaccinating my kids. I mean - yuck! I also dreamed of a midwife led, water birth. And suddenly at 32 weeks, I was in labor. I was briefly allowed to hold the results of my painful efforts that were (of course) delivered in a hospital with a male doctor, and then my baby was whisked away to intensive care where he was hooked up to what seemed to be countless wires. He received numerous tests and medications. And I was SO grateful for the knowledge of the medical industry, because all this technology kept my baby alive. Would he have survived 50 years ago? Who knows. But when the doctor recommended vaccinations, I jumped at the chance to protect my child from further harm.

Here is one more pro-point for vaccinating your kids on schedule. Though it seems terrible to vaccinate new babies, they can just be picked up and nursed and comforted. Fast forward a few years. Now those five-year shots for kindergarten, that's anther story. Marek's five-year shots involved several extra sets of hands to help hold him down. Not a nice scene. Not a proud parent moment.

My neighbor, my friend, and I - none of us are in the medical industry, so we don't really know anything beyond what the experts are saying and what we have experienced with our own kids. This month's issue of Parents Magazine had what I thought was a really good article on vaccinations. You can read it online at:

http://www.parents.com/baby/health/vaccinations/vaccines-the-reality-behind-the-debate/