Robin's 6 Month Appointment

Have I mentioned how much I love our pediatricians? Seriously, love them. They are so incredibly supportive and receptive to any issue I've presented and are champions of flexibility. Oh, and they love our kids. But I'll get to that later.

Robin's 6 month Stats:
Height: 25 3/4 inches
Weight: 12 lbs 6 ounces
Head: 16 1/2 inches
Chest 15 1/4 inches

He's growing great and is sticking to a nice curve. He's a long skinny thing...maybe he'll be tall and be able to reach things for his short mamas. He's sitting on his own (but will flop over when he gets tired of it). He's rolling from back to tummy and tummy to back. He's not as miserable during tummy time as Arthur used to be. And this past week he's been a fairly smiley happy baby.

And the best thing is...last night he slept through the entire night for the VERY FIRST TIME. 9PM-5:30AM. I don't expect it to last..ha ha ha. He usually wakes up twice to eat so this was a shock to me. I would love it if he's just finally decided that sleep is good :)

As for the supportive pediatricians...I've developed some ethical issues with a few of the vaccines. None that impacted Robin today but will in the future. I've just discovered that a few of the major vaccines contain human diploid cells (fetal tissue). I'm a very liberal person, and I place no judgement on what is right for others regarding this issue...but when I found out, I cried. There's a difference between knowing what exists that I wouldn't personally partake in, and taking something objectionable to me and injecting it into my child. Without getting into it too much, this was upsetting to me and I decided to ask my pediatrician about it.

Turns out, I'm not alone. He just discovered this issue as well and it has upset him greatly too. His advice "get the vaccines BUT make a huge stink about it with the companies...they need to change how the vaccine is made". I was so happy to get so much support from him! He gave me some materials to read from a medical journal "Ethics & Medics" and I'm going to pore over it to help me make the best decision I can. I do know that alternative vaccines exist without ethically questionable materials and if I can seek those out instead and use those, I will. (The vaccines with human diploid cells are MMR (specifically Mumps and Rubella), the chicken pox vaccine, hepatitis A, and the live Varicella vaccine)

I'll skip the chicken pox vaccine entirely. It's not a required vaccine and honestly, knowing what goes into it...I'd rather my kids get chicken pox.

The shots today (while containing things like formaldehyde, monkey kidney cells, and thimerasol) I wasn't thrilled about but I've decided to break them up to make them easier for Robin to handle. Instead of being majorly uncomfortable for two days, he'll be just a little uncomfortable for a day or two now, and then a little uncomfortable for a day or two in a couple of weeks when I get the rest. He's so tiny for his age, I didn't want to overload him and the pediatrician is fully supportive of parents selectively choosing to delay vaccines. He got 3 today and he'll get the other 3 in two weeks. If he's reached 13 lbs by then, I'll get the flu shot too...but I really need to cross that weight milestone (being that 6 months is the earliest they offer the flu shot and he is just so small for his age still). I mean, the poor baby is conked out cold right now just from getting half of the shots today...you know those ingredients in there are some pretty potent ones.

Wow, that was a novel! But it's something that has been really weighing on my mind the past couple of months and I've been doing lots of research about and I thought I would share it. A lot of people may not know what goes into vaccines and would be surprised to learn what exactly is being put into our children without questioning if there is a better way.

With Arthur, I never questioned..and I'm ashamed that I didn't know what was being put into his body. Joanne and I try so hard to limit the chemicals he eats, but I thought nothing of letting someone put formaldehyde into his bloodstream. I understand that vaccines can be a great thing...but if I at least know ahead of time what I'm putting into my children I can be more prepared and research if any alternative vaccines exist that we can use instead. I'm not anti-vaccine, but lets find a way to make them with ingredients that will reduce fear and worry in parents as well as eliminate ethical concerns with questionable ingredients.

If I don't get to post again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!