Another Dose of Controversy

Well...not really controversy....just kinda wanted to express some thought about that Dateline special on Sunday. Anybody see it? It was about the most talked about issue in parenting right now....to vaccinate or not to vaccinate and autism. Ugh....this topic sends shivers down my spine. Hunter is very soon coming up on the controversial vaccine, MMR, and I just don't know what to do....

As much as I didn't want to watch the Dateline special (you know....I firmly believe in that mentality of ignorance is bliss) the one thing that they brought up that really got to me was that the initial doctor that hypothesized that the MMR vaccine is linked to Autism never said that ALL vaccines are linked to Autism. That's something that has come out of the masses that are looking for a cure, a reason, a cause, and they heard the word "vaccine" and all of a sudden its ALL vaccines cause Autism. Another thing that struck me.....was that when he came out with this thesis.....many other doctors and universities all over the world started conducting tests, on millions of children, and NONE could find the link, or the possible link, between the MMR vaccine and Autism. It makes me think, is it the media that leads us to believe and create these notions of all things bad with our children? Is it the masses that feed off the paranoia of everyone around them to create the hysteria behind this disease?

Look, now I'm getting all political and crazy...which I certainly am not. Well....crazy maybe. It's just you can't really ignore all the controversy that is going on!


I even called Heather the other day to ask what she would do with the MMR vaccine. She's so far away from it that it's hard to say...but who do you really ask what to do? I want to trust my pediatrician....but the "what ifs" are always in the back of my mind.


My sister in law used to send me all these forwarded after forwarded emails that were about "dont leave water bottles in your car cuz they cause cancer" "The warnings about BPA" blah blah on and on more things about how the things you are currently using are going to eventually end up killing you. I asked her to stop, because I just can't live like that! I can't live with the fear that EVERYTHING I'm doing MIGHT be hurting my baby. I'm doing what I think and feel is best for the benefit of my child! If we're in a desert and he needs water and I happen to have a water bottle that has been sitting in my for a couple days (unopened of course), Damn right I'm going to not even think twice about how the heated plastic could POSSIBLY give him cancer 20 years from now! I just can't live with those constant fears in the back of my mind all the time.


That said, I watched the special, the facts have been weighed, they have been measured, and they have been found wanting. So my decision? Trust my gut....it usually leads me right. I trust my doctor (Dr. Scott for any So. Jersey residence....he's amazingly awesome) and I trust that the Academy of Pediatrics would really has the best interests of my child in mind. So on with the MMR....but I'll be scared s**tless.....trust.....