One shot

At Abby's 2 month appointment, she got one vaccine shot.  Poor baby screamed as they injected her with the DTaP vaccine. 

There is a lot of controversy in this country about vaccines and their effectiveness, safety and the overall ethics involved.  According to the CDC, the recommended vaccine schedule dictates that at 2 months of age, a child is to receive 6 shots: DTap (Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis), Rotavirus, Pneumococcal, Haemophilus influenzae type b, Hepatitis B and Polio.  As you can tell, Abby did not receive all of those.  Brent and I have been talking a long time about what our views are on immunizations and what we want for Abby.  (parenting it tough at every corner!)

With Brent being a chiropractor and treating the body in a non traditional manner and myself working with young children with autism (who may or may not have been affected by vaccinations), it has caused us to take a closer look at what we would like for our child.  Brent has read many articles and researched this far more than I have, but together we make the decision about what will be injected into Abby's body. 

We have to look at each vaccine individually.  What is the risk of getting the illness?  What are the characteristics of each disease? Would it be more of a risk to get the vaccine than to wait?  So far, we have had an open dialogue with our pediatrician about each vaccine.  She is open minded and realizes that there are other options than just what the CDC dictates is the "right" schedule. 

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to vaccines and the overwhelming debate.