I had an easy pregnancy and delivery with my second son. He was born at healthy weight of 8lbs 6oz and 21 in. Right after his birth, he was given the routine care of a healthy newborn. Erythromycin in the eyes and a Heb b vaccination. I thought I was being a "good" mom by following Drs orders.
At his first Dr appt, 4 days after his birth, we noticed he had some irritation on his checks. Dr said it was common with babies, nothing to worry about. But over the next few weeks it got slightly worse. At his 6 week visit, his pediatrician was again not too concerned. She suggested some OTC hydrocortisone and gave him his second dose of hep b. A few days later his rash got worse, despite the medication, and started to spread over his little body. So we went back to the dr and she perscribe a stronger medication. His rash still continued to get worse! We were then referred to a dermatologist. He was given a diagnosis of eczmea... with a staph infection!
At each routine check up, my baby was given all his vaccinations. Our pediatrician however did warn us that he may have a slight flare up after his vaccines but it was nothing to worry about. The benefits out weighed the risk.
By 4 months old my baby was covered from head to toe with eczema. It was even on his eyelids. He looked like a burn victim. It was so bad, he would scratch his face until it bled. Let me tell you, there is nothing more horrifying than to see your baby's face covered in blood and hearing him scream out in pain. He had to have his hands constantly covered and his arms bound. He was basically swaddled a good portion of the time.
Each time we walked out of the Drs office after a routine visit not only did his eczema flare up but he had a new issues!
My husband and I tried everything we could to help our baby. I switched from breastfeeding to special formulas. We got rid of all perfumes and dyes in our laundry and body soaps. We even had him tested for allergies.
At 6 months old he was allergic to dairy, eggs,soy, wheat, peanuts, shellfish
Over the next couple months, we dealt with projectile vomiting, chronic and painful constipation, frequent staph infections, food allergies, developmental delays, and even an episode of anaphylaxis.
Despite having an egg allergy listed in my son's medical file, our pediatrician still suggested that he have his flu shot. Since he was so sickly, it would be beneficial for him. The AAP suggests that the flu vaccine is safe for those with egg allergies.
I felt uneasy about it but she insisted it was for the best. She used scare tactics and my lack of knowledge on the subject to vaccinated him once again. That was my first experience being bullied and guilted by Drs. I called my husband from the car in tears, something about the whole scenario just didn't sit right with me. I have one job in this world and that is to keep my baby safe and I failed him! I let a Dr bully me into doing something that I wasn't 100% comfortable with.
It took me a little over a year to finally link all his medical issues to his vaccinations. It breaks my heart to know that I unknowly subjected my precious perfect baby to needlessly suffer. If I had taken the time to do just a little bit of unbiased research, maybe this could have been prevented. I will never know for sure.
What I do know is the medical and pharmaceutical community don't willing give out this information. To them, vaccines are a modern miracle.
My son is now 7 years old. He still has some health issues but is on a path to better health.
