Back Again

Once again I resume blogging after a long hiatus. I've just been so tired, and mornings are so rough for me right now. I don't feel up to getting off of the couch & out of my pj's until after noon. One morning I actually fell asleep while Isaac watched Sesame Street. I woke up as soon as the show was over and discovered he had fished the lemon out of my water and was sucking on it, and there was water all over the coffee table. Another morning I was just laying on the couch, not sleeping, while both boys were up. I could hear Josiah the whole time so I thought I knew where he was. I got up & started doing something when I turned & looked at Josiah & he had red foam coming out of his mouth! He had gotten hold of Isaac's red crayon, and was eating it. Thank goodness they're non-toxic. But it was all stuck to his teeth so I had to really rub it off pretty hard with a damp cloth. I've never made the mistake of laying on the couch while he is awake again.

I probably shouldn't blog about such things. People may think I'm negligent. I figure this is the real world. This is my life. And that's what I blog about.

I have spent a good bit of time this past week reading about vaccines. I've made up my mind. I believe the benefits outweighs the risks. What was most helpful to me in reaching this conclusion was actually reading all of the product inserts for the vaccines, which one of the nurses at our pediatrician's office was so kind to provide me with. I had recently watched a DVD on vaccines that scared the crap out of me and made me sick at my stomach, so I decided to investigate a further. Simply reading the package inserts for the vaccines put holes in many of the arguments made in the DVD. So I'm very comfortable and confident with my decision.

However, there is a HUGE moral and ethical dilemna for me regarding the Varivax (chicken pox), M-M-R-II (measles, mumps, rubella), and HAVRIX (hep A) vaccines. The dilemna is that these vaccines are made using human embryonic lung cell cultures and human diploid cells from aborted fetuses. The product inserts for these vaccines clearly state this, and I even called the manufacturers (Merck and GlaxoSmithKline) to confirm and make sure I wasn't misinterpreting anything. All it took was one phone call to each. This information was not difficult to obtain, rather, they were very forthcoming with it. Merck even sent a pdf document to my inbox within minutes of hanging up the phone with their response. So, I cannot consent to these particular vaccines. I will call around to see if any doctors' offices offer the single measles and mumps vaccines, not combined. However, I'm afraid there is no ethical alternative to the chicken pox, rubella, or hep A vaccines.

This vaccine thing has been a major stressor on me and it feels so good to finally come to a confident decision and have it lifted off of my shoulders. I mean, I've been so stressed out about this I think I was actually making my morning sickness worse. I would wake up in the middle of the night thinking/worrying about it! I feel so much better now.

What else is going on?

Um, the boys had little fevers yesterday, but their temperatures have been normal so far today.

I finally had my first visit with the midwife last week. It went well. I'm having a first trimester ultrasound to confirm how far along I am because I'm not certain of the date of my last period. I like the midwife that I saw a lot. There is one other in the practice who I've not yet met.

Sounds like Josiah is crying when he's supposed to be napping. He probably lost his pacifier. I'd better go help him.