Vaccine of the day: Polio

Parker hasn't been vaccinated for the most part. He got the HEP B vaccine and vit K in his first 24 hours of life.

Parker also has dairy, sesame seed, and chick peas allergy (that we know of). I may be a coincidence or it may not.

We will be faced with the decision about vaccinating very shortly, as we have decided to postpone vaccinating (if we ever decide to) until P is at least 2. The first two years are crucial for the development of a child's immune system so we didn't want to interfere with it.

Since his 2ndbirthday is approaching, I decided to do research about each vaccine/disease separately in order to see whether we vaccinate against it or not. My research will concentrate on two fronts:

1. The benefits (severity of the disease, chances of getting it, etc.)

2. The risks (what's in the vaccine, how it's made, potential side effects and long term risks, etc.)

Also, I want to rely on sources that are not against vaccines by default. I.e. as a source I may use a study cited on an anti-vaccine website, but the articles on such website will not be used as primary evidence.


POLIO

The research about Polio disease has proved to be fairly straight forward.

WHO site (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs114/en/) as of July 3. 2013:

- 223 reported cases in 2012.
- In 2013, only three countries (Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan) remain polio-endemic, down from more than 125 in 1988.
- One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis. Among those paralysed, 5% to 10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized."


CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/polio/in-short-both.htm):
Polio is spread by person-to-person contact and only affects humans.


There are 7 billion people living on earth, the chance that it will be you or me is 223/7,000,000,000 (my calculator couldn't display this number as it is so small). That's assuming we all have the same chance of getting it. The fact that we don't live in any of the "hot zone" countries, diminishes the chances even further.


Polio symptoms from CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/polio/in-short-both.htm)

Approximately 95% of persons infected with polio will have no symptoms. About 4-8% of infected persons have minor symptoms, such as fever, fatigue, nausea, headache, flu-like symptoms, stiffness in the neck and back, and pain in the limbs, which often resolve completely. Fewer than 1% of polio cases result in permanent paralysis of the limbs (usually the legs). Of those paralyzed, 5-10% die when the paralysis strikes the respiratory muscles. The death rate increases with increasing age.:


Polio vaccine

Ingredients from CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/polio/in-short-both.htm):

Polio (IPV – Ipol): 2-phenoxyethanol, formaldehyde, neomycin, streptomycin, polymyxin B, monkey kidney cells, Eagle MEM modified medium, calf serum protein

2-phenoxyethanol - preservative. From http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9926486:

Potential Acute Health Effects:
Extremely hazardous in case of eye contact (irritant). Very hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of ingestion, of inhalation. Inflammation of the eye is characterized by redness, watering, and itching. Skin inflammation is characterized by itching, scaling, reddening, or, occasionally, blistering.
Potential Chronic Health Effects:
Extremely hazardous in case of eye contact (irritant). Very hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of ingestion, of inhalation. CARCINOGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. MUTAGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. TERATOGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. DEVELOPMENTAL TOXICITY: Not available. The substance is toxic to kidneys, the nervous system, liver. Repeated or prolonged exposure to the substance can produce target organs damage. Repeated or prolonged inhalation of vapors may lead to chronic respiratory irritation.

formaldehyde - preservative. In 2011, the US National Toxicology Program described formaldehyde as "known to be a human carcinogen".

In another study I found the following: Formaldehyde is weakly genotoxic and was able to induce gene mutations and chromosomal aberrations in mammalian cells. DNA-protein crosslinks are a sensitive measure of DNA modification by formaldehyde. However, the genotoxic effects were limited to those cells, which are in direct contact with formaldehyde, and no effects could be observed in distant-site tissues. In conclusion, formaldehyde is a direct acting locally effective mutagen.

neomycin, streptomycin, polymyxin B - antibiotics


monkey kidney cells - well, monkey kidney cells

Eagle MEM modified medium - one of the most widely used of all synthetic cell culture media. I haven't found any signs of it being toxic.

calf serum protein - haven't found anything of toxicity but it is derived from unborn calf fetuses in a non humanitarian way.


Meanwhile in India (from PubMed.gov http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22591873):
It was hoped that following polio eradication, immunisation could be stopped. However the synthesis of polio virus in 2002, made eradication impossible. It is argued that getting poor countries to expend their scarce resources on an impossible dream over the last 10 years was unethical. Furthermore, while India has been polio-free for a year, there has been a huge increase in non-polio acute flaccid paralysis (NPAFP). In 2011, there were an extra 47,500 new cases of NPAFP. Clinically indistinguishable from polio paralysis but twice as deadly, the incidence of NPAFP was directly proportional to doses of oral polio received.

[ME] The oral polio vaccine contains a live polio virus and has been linked to polio-like paralysis. Polio vaccines used in the US and Western Europe do not include the live virus, but polio vaccines used in India, and Africa do.

Read more: http://digitaljournal.com/article/323371#ixzz2YCGqHuQ8


Decision: Not vaccinating.

Parker 18 months

It's been a long time, I am slacking off. I only have a few minutes so this will be quick. I will try to add something later.

Parker is 18.5 months today; he really is a big boy now.

- No more bottles, he drinks water from a sippy cup since January and milk since February (off the bottle well before 18 months).

- Parker doesn't wake up at night any more so mommy and daddy are getting more sleep.

- He understands pretty much everything and uses signs to communicate, although no really speaking yet. He says "highchair" and "dada" and "Aga", he will try to say "trzy", but that's all for now. He does use the signs though.

- Favorite books are "Squishy Turtle and Friends", "Good night moon", as well as "What's wrong little Pookie" and (recently) Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton.

- Parker loves dogs

- We are still on no dairy diet and doing fairly well. It seems like we can't go to a restaurant without Parker getting a rash right after, so we kind of gave up. We cook a lot as Parker loves his food. He loves meat, bread, fruit and some veggies. His favorite are broccoli and avocado, but he also likes peas, cucumber, and Polish pickles.

- Parker loves playing pick-a-boo and hide-and-seek. He just recently learned how to screw and unscrew a bottle or jar.

About the unscrewing bottles we learned the hard way. I gave him a juice bottle to hold while I walked around the car to his side to pick him up. By the time I got there, all the juice was soaking into his clothes and the car seat!

We also went to visit our Charlotte, NC friends last weekend. Parker did well on the plane on the way there, the trip back was a bit more troublesome (we had to wait 45 minutes before the the take off due to the weather). He loved the warmth weather and loved playing in our friends yards. Too bad we moved to a condo. :)

But seriously, the condo is great and we are still loving it. Having some issues with the neighbors downstairs complaining about the noise (I think steps, ours and Parker's). But other than that - we are super happy.

Another trip is coming up in early May, we bought tickets to go to Poland! We are very excited for Parker to meet his family and for everyone to meet him. I don't want to think about the flight, just hope he will be able to sleep.

Parker has a stomach flu

Poor thing, Parker got a stomach bug. He didn't eat much dinner last night, which was suspicious to me, and the spat up a hole bunch of milk before bed. At 11 he woke up again to throw up whatever was let in his tummy. He was very thirsty and wanted water but couldn't keep down even that. He also had two episodes of diarrhea before morning. All in all, not a fun night.

He woke up feeling even worse in the morning. Still couldn't keep down even water although insisted on drinking. We finally switched to a regular cup, as he at least drank slower this way. It definitely helped. In the meantime, Marc got us some coconut water so we switched to that. He was so thirsty he didn't mind the taste.

Finally dr. K called in a prescription for Zofran (some other brand name, but essentially that's what it is). We gave him the first dose (5ml) at 4:30. By 6 he ate half a banana, slice of French bread and requested for his drink to be switched to water (opened the sippy cup, showed me to the kitchen, and pointed at the fridge where we get the water for his sippy). He is such a big boy!

He had a couple more diarrhea episodes but no throwing up any more, lets keep our fingers crossed. He is asleep now. Fever about 102F and moaning in his sleep. :( I am hoping his body will fight off the virus and that the night will be better than last and the morning will bring recovery.

BTW, Parker will be 17 months tomorrow! He weighted in 10.760 kg which is roughly 23 lbs (before he got sick, it may be very different now), which puts him in the 50th percentile for weight, a place we have never been before! He is 84 cm or 33" tall - between 75th and 95th percentile, as usually.

We have become very radical and strict with his dairy free diet and it started to pay off. His skin is so much better! Skin on his legs is smooth and olive color, rather than bumpy red and sandpaper like. W hope this will also translate to a better immunity as he has been getting sick very often this winter season.

Also, Parker has a new favorite book! It is the Goodnight Moon book. I had to read it to him four times the other night! :)

Parker: 15-16 months update

Parker is 16 months and one week, which means that I missed his 15 months update. Bummer. He started the 2013 with bronchitis (we went to the doctor on Fri Dec 29) and I just forgot all about his update. He is pretty much completely recovered now. We gave him a cough sirup (honey based Chestal) to loosen up the phlegm so he can cough it out. Otherwise, he was gasping for air during his long cough episodes, especially at night. He also got LymphDrn 5-6 drops 2xday and some other homeopathic drops (need to provide the name), also 6 drops twice a day. He got much better on Thursday, Jan 10, almost two weeks later. We stopped giving him the medicine the following Sunday.

And here is the general update:

Parker still sleeps with mommy and daddy, but we now have a king size bed! What a difference! He still wakes up twice a night for milk, one about 12.30-1.30 (although yesterday it was 11.30) and once about 4.30-5.30. He drinks his milk, turns around and goes back to sleep most of the times.

Since we are talking about beds and sleeping, here is P's bedtime routine. We usually start a bath between 7.15 and 7.30. Put PJs on and have milk about 7.45. We then read a few books and after the milk is gone we brush teeth and go to bed. When P was sick with bronchitis a couple of weeks ago, he would fall asleep during the reading and we wouldn't be even able to brush teeth. Or he would drift off as soon as his head touched the pillow, before I got to turn down the lights. It's not as great now, he usually takes about 10-20 minutes to fall asleep. And sometimes even up to 40 minutes.

Parker's nap times change from time to time. He used to go around 12.30 and still does it on weekends. During the week, however, he falls asleep between 11 and 11.30 while eating and sitting in his highchair! We have a few really cute videos of him passing out.

Food. Parker loves fruit (pears, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, bananas, mangoes, kiwis, you name it!). He even likes tomatoes! Veggies are harder; likes broccoli, avocado, and peas, but that's about it. He still loves meat and bread. He doesn't eat oatmeal anymore so we have decided to change his breakfasts to a bagel with cream cheese (slowly introducing dairy) or whole wheat waffles. He also eats (adult) cereal from time to time. As for lunch and dinner, he pretty much eats what we eat. I was so proud to be able to say that in front of my girlfriends last weekend!

Parker's favorite stuffed animal is still his Bamboo Buddy Zebra who he sleeps with. He also takes his "Spioch" which is the "Boyo" by Keptin-Jr to bed. As for day time toys, he loves playing with his new pots and pans that he got for Christmas. Still likes regular Mega Bloks and the Alex Jr. Baby Builder plastic connecting elements. He absolutely loves playing in the kitchen so we got him the Little Helper FunPod for Christmas, too.

Parker definitely like to read now, or, to be read to, I should say. He will bring a book, sit himself on my lap, and wait till I start readying. He usually gets up after a page or two to find another book and repeats the same ritual. :) But he pays attention and can sit through three or even four books while drinking his milk before bedtime.

Another disappointment at 6w6d

We headed out to the ultrasound with mixed feelings. We knew what the possibilities were, yet we hoped that the child who was miraculously conceived wouldn't be taken away from us so soon. Well, it turns out there wasn't even a child. Not even a fetal pole. By 6w5d we should have seen an embryo and even heard a heartbeat. As always, they try to say that it's early, earlier than you think. Well, unless the sperms can live inside me for two weeks, I am no longer pregnant. Period.

I am disappointed and angry with God, again. We weren't even trying! Why give me a false hope?? Why make me turn from not being ready to making myself ready and even excited and then take it away so quickly? God has a cruel sense of humor.

I am still waiting to hear from the midwifes. The U/S tech won't diagnose anything, just suggested to come back in a week. I know there is nothing to be waiting for, just hope I won't have to have another D&C.

I feel nauseous now. I think it's the stress. I wish I didn't have to be here (at work) today. I know I could leave, really, but there are people who are relying on me. I will do my job, go to the dentist, and then go home and have a wonderful evening with my baby boy.

I can't stop crying. :(

I got a BFP!

I got a BFP on Christmas Eve! I kind of knew for a few days already, as my cycles are 24-27 and I was already a week late at that time, but I refused to take the test. I guess I didn't really believe that I could get preggo after having sex ONCE(!) last month!!

The good thing is that this way I saved myself a lot of worrying. I know it will come (although it hasn't yet, thank goodness). I just reread the first few post from when I got BFP with Parker and I got it at 3w3d. Now I am about 5w2d so it's almost two weeks later!

The only symptom I have so far is mood swings and tiredness. Although with the <6h of sleep the tiredness is no surprise.

BTW, we have finally moved! Christmas at the new house went pretty smoothly. My sister and her friend cooked for the New Years Eve and my mother in law and cousin cooked for Christmas Day, so I could concentrate on unpacking and cleaning up.

The move itself went all right as well. It was long but the movers were pretty good and didn't charge an arm and a leg. Unfortunately we were left with a few pretty bad scratches on our new hardwood floors.

I have to go now but will try to post every now and then. This reminds me, I still need to do the 15 month Parker update!

Parker: 14 months

It's almost the end of his 14th month, he will be 15 months old in only 4 days. Let's bring a bit more structure tot he monthly update entries.

NAPS: Parker transitioned to one nap a day within about 3 weeks. We were all over the place (putting him down from 11 am to 1.30 pm and anything in between) before establishing that 11 am lunch followed by noon nap most consistently produces naps over 1.5 hours. P can sleep from 1.5 to 3.5 hours now, although he gets tired if the 1.5 naps go for a couple of days in a row.

NIGHT SLEEP: Today is the first night of 3 oz for 1st night bottle (we decrease the amount of milk by 0.5oz every Sunday) and P is starting to drop one of his night bottles again, just like last time. He still wakes up any time between 11 pm and 1.30 am for his bottle, but will usually go back to sleep fairly easily if I you give him a pacifier (and stay in bed with him). He did it twice last week and it looks like tonight will be the third night (last two nights I didn't have the paci ready so it was my fault). On the nights that he skipped the first bottle, he had only the small one (3.5oz) at his usually 2nd night bottle time (4-5am), which is different than what we did a few months ago.

Parker sleeps int he big bed now, including naps when with mommy and daddy. He still sometimes sleeps in the crib when with Grandpa and Lola.

WALKING: P started to really walk on the last day of being 13 months. This is when he first time waled a few steps, stopped, and walked again. Now, almost a month later, he can walk very well now although he still falls quite often. I keep thinking it's his shoes, but I do notice that he does that more when he just wakes up, as if he needs some time to get going. It is a lot of fun to take him to a playground now. He can get up the steps by himself and slide down the slide (he learned to do it on his tummy; I think it's time to start teaching him how to slide sitting up though).

FOOD: P feeds himself all meals now, with a little assistance with breakfast (oatmeal). He does not like to be fed so breakfasts are not his largest meals. Although when Grandpa and Lola feed him, they still entertain him during the meal, so he tends to eat more for breakfast. P doe not like soups anymore, again, most likely because he can't eat them himself. So soups appear on the menu only once a week, if that. I made a whole new batch right before he stopped eating them, so we are covered with the soups for a while. He loves to eat whatever we are eating, tonight it happened to be tacos. He didn't have a taco made in one piece but ate pretty much everything what goes on a taco: meat (like), tomato (like), lettuce (no like), tortilla (like), avocado (like a lot). :) No cheese and sour cream due to the allergy. Here is his usual menu at 14 months:

Breakfast: Oatmeal or rice cereal with almond milk, fruit
Lunch: turkey sandwich or toast with almond butter or jelly, soup once a week (if that), fruit
Snack: Fruit (banana, mango, apple, kiwi, pear)
Dinner: Anything we eat

Parker also has one 4-5-oz bottle of hemp milk a day. I just realized that he is supposed to have almond milk during the day and sometime between the last post and now we switched to hemp 24/7. Good that I am writing this blog! :)

P loves fruit but veggies are hard. He will eat broccoli, and cooked carrots, but that's about it. It's not his fault, really, it's mine. I am out of ideas for veggies rather than those two. Something I need to work on.

DAY CARE: The schedule is the same - Grandpa and Lola 2xweek, Mommy and Daddy the rest with some help from Miriam, who is our on call babysitter from Bright Horizon Back-Up Care. Miriam stayed with Parker twice on my telework day and when I had my implant done. She will be coming next Friday on Marc's telecommute day and I have to schedule her for Mon for my telecommute (again, thank you, blog, for making me realize that).

NEW THINGS: Parker understands a lot now, even though he doesn't say much. Actually, he says A LOT, we just don't understand. :) He will bring anything you ask him to, he knows to give something to someone, he understands that he should point to a toy on a Xmas tree and wait until we give it to him, etc.. The first time we realized how much he understood was about a week ago. I noticed that he was chewing on something and tried to take it out of his mouth, worrying that it was something not edible. He didn't like me doing that and made it impossible. I started asking "Parker, what is it that you are eating, show mommy" and he went to the stroller and pointed at a cup with his little star snack in it.

Parker enjoys time with Daddy much more now and most of the time doesn't cry when mommy is not there any more. This is probably thanks to the fact that Marc spends more time with him and... my attitude. When P cries, I give him a hug and explain that it's ok to stay with Dada. I think he learned that mommy no longer will give in to his cries and he doesn't bother.

BOOKS: I am still waiting for the time when he will sit on my lap and listen to a story. He looks at books himself a lot (The Very Hungry Caterpillar is still his favorite although closely followed by Furry Friends and a couple of other books) but won't sit still to listen and look at pictures. So reading to him is still just as reading to yourself :) with him looking at other books or playing with other toys.

TOYS: P discovered how to throw a ball. He enjoys putting stuff in his little bucket and carrying it around the house. He still loves to un/screw tops on bottles. He absolutely loves his Zebra and sleeps hugging it. The blocks are not as big of a hit at the moment but he played with them a lot just a week ago. Loves "baba w babie" and ring stacker (his new toy). Still absolutely loved his cardboard nesting stacking blocks.

MOMMY'S READING: I am done with the "Easy to love..." book and have to say that it changed my life. I used to get frustrated when P wouldn't do what I ask or want him to do. I know think differently, for a different perspective. I feel that I have more respect for him and his choices, and it make me calmer. I also have more patience because I no longer expect that he will understand (and comply) immediately. I now know that sometimes I have to repeat what I want 3 or 4 times and then show him what I mean, and it's not because he disrespects me or doesn't want to listen. I also see how I can help him learn how to interact with other kids. My life is much easier because of this book. :)

I am currently reading "What's Eating Your Child" by Kelly Dorfman. My conclusion is that we are feeding Parker right for the most part. Reading the book encourages me to stick with natural rather than processed food, and I am starting to cook more (made two batches of meat balls for the whole family last week, and backed muffins from scratch this morning!).

I am also reading "The Wonder Weeks" by Hetty Van De Rijt and Frans Plooij on per need basis. :) His next to the last stormy period just ended so I won't be reading it for the next few weeks.

I also downloaded "Bed Timing, The Parent's Guide to Getting Your Child to Sleep at Just Right Age" by Marc Lewis and Isabela Granic. I used their guidance when P started falling asleep on his own around 5-6 months and I want to learn what they suggest as far as making toddler's sleep better. I haven't started reading it yet but I will report back once I do.

Just a quick update on the new place front. Our closing is scheduled for Thursday, December 20! Yay! We are hoping we can move in that Saturday (or even Friday!) and spend Christmas at our new place. They is still a lot to do int he house; dehumidifiers are still running (which worries me) and appliances and floors/carpets are not there yet, in addition to some cosmetic touches that need to be done, so I am not entirely confident we will close on time. Although I still have hope. :)