*Baby Corner*

[j_e_w_e_l_l_y_n 0]

Her name's Adalyn Rhianne Mattern. Her name is a combination of my husband's and my name. :-D You all have adorable babies! I think babies are really cute! Being a mommy is certainly difficult but rewarding at the same time.

[HLM 1]

Jewellyn- your baby is beautiful!

[eyedo 0]

I'm not a mom yet, but I really love this thread! all the babys are so cuuuuuuutttteee!!!

[chnst 6]

@Jewellyn: welcome to the baby corner and congrats on your little girl! She is precious. The birth pics are amazing. (Evi there's not much blood to see, really!) I agree with Eveline regarding the vaccines and cereal. We started Ben on fruit banana/applesauce and carrots when he was 5 months old, then introduced oatmeal at 6 months. (no rice cereal because he gets very constipated). I can really recommend the Dr. Sears Baby book to you, it is great. I'm a pediatric nurse but so clueless sometimes when it comes to my own baby. I love that book, because it covers almost every aspect of the first year. Also, what to expect the first year is an alright book, it sometimes contradicts Sears but it is always good to weigh out all the opinions. If all else fails, you're alwys welcome to ask questions here! I think there are quite a few babies born around the same time as yours.

Vaccines are important, but we decided to spread them out too. We started with Polio at 2 months, DTaP at 3 months, Hib+Polio at 4 months, DTaP at 5 months, Prevnar+Hib at 6 months, DTaP at 7 months, Prevnar+Hib at 8 months, Polio booster at 9 months, Prevnar 10 months, DTaP booster at 12 months. We are now contemplating the MMR shot. I'd like to give him single doses, yet they are not available in the US right now. I will either get them in Germany in August or give him the shot at 18 months if it is an absolute must for the day care he attends in the fall. Our pediatrician doesn't vaccinate babies with the flu shot, so we skipped that one, same for the rota virus. He was ok delaying the hepatitis and chicken pox shots.

I think everybody needs to figure out for themselves what works best, and what your specific requirements are. If your daughter is going to a daycare you will most likely be required to vaccinate her. If you're a stay at home mom, you're more flexible delaying the shots.

[Nessa 23]

@j_e_w_e_l_l_y_n: welcome. your baby is adorable.

Are you in favor of vaccinating baby? hmmm yeah. why would someone not give their child vaccinations is beyond my comprehension.

Please give me reasons. err.. because it protects them from disease.

no idea about cereal, i'm a FTM also.

[Anna C. 4]

@ Jewellyn: Congratz on your cutie! I am not a big fan of rice cereal, it constipates and has little nutritional value. Never give a baby under 4 months cereal or any other solids as mentioned before. Preferably, you'll wait til 6 months and signs of readiness for solids by your baby (Dr. Sears book is great, explains it all in detail).

Vaccines is a big controversy. I used to be in favor, then started my own research instead of just listening to the doctor. I started with reading package inserts, comparing the shot schedule to what I got as a kid, read studies on pubmed (it is free of charge to read all those) and so on. In the end we decided to delay, and selectively vaccinate. The earliest we feel comfortable with is 12 months. In our situation that works as I am a stay at home mom. We then only decided to get shots that we got as kids. Which is DTaP, Polio and measles, never anything else. We looked at each disease and decided how likely it is to contract and if you do, how bad it is (e.i. chickenpox so does not scare us at all, neither does rotavirus, yet the side effects do scare us! also, we have ethical issues with some vaccine ingredients derived from aborted cell tissue). Hep B we will offer to our kids once they hit puberty, not before (transmits like a STD). Like chnst said, single measles is available in Europe and will be available again in the USA in 2011.

Vaccines do not necessarily work! I got 4 chickenpox shots as requirement for the green card, yet I am not immune to it. (titer check) I am also not immune to hep B and I had 6 shots for it. Vaccines do not always work. Kids one year younger than me at home got the MMR shot, I was the last generation with measles only shot. Yet when my class had mumps, they all got full blown mumps too. So I do not buy into full protection from vaccines, and the manufacturers don't claim it either.

I think you should read up about it and decide what you are comfortable with. Don't do anything that goes against your mommy guts and don't be bullied by anyone. Whatever you decide is right for your family.

A nice discussion with tons of information can be found here: http://www.mothering.com/discussions/forumdisplay.php?f=47

[caybee 21]

@ Jewellyn -- your little one is so beautiful! Congratulations!

I'm sorry to have fallen so far behind on the posts here lately. Still trying to catch up and see how everyone is doing, but I wish everyone well.

We had an elective 3-D ultrasound at 28 weeks, and our little guy decide to hide and sleep through it (of course, he played soccer with my insides both before and after the appointment). So we didn't get very good pictures or any video at all, but the tech was able to measure him. She said he was already at 4.2 pounds, which was a shock, but I know U/S measurements are notoriously inaccurate.

I did have to have the three-hour glucose test after a high number on the one-hour, and I got a gestational diabetes diagnosis on Monday, which may account for his apparent weight. I got my meter that day, haven't received the nurse's packet of info in the mail yet, but I'm following a GD eating plan I found online until I receive hers, checking glucose when I first wake up and then 2 hours after each meal. All except the before-breakfast numbers are now below target. I get up for a little while when my husband comes in from work at 3 am, and I've read that activity can throw off the fasting number if the body thinks it needs to dump stored glucose into the bloodstream for energy (Staashi, you might have some insight on this), but I'll go over that with the nurse in a few days, and I think they're going to set me up for some classes as well. The meter is MUCH easier to use than I ever anticipated, doesn't hurt at all, and I can unpack it, test, and put it away again within 30 seconds.

I do worry about effects this may already have had on the baby, but I wasn't diabetic when I got pregnant, and I know they test at 28 weeks to allow enough time to get things under control, so I trust he'll be fine. His heart sounds good, and nothing else looks unusual. I guess they may decide to induce or plan a c/s a little early as they did with Staashi, but we'll roll with it if they give us no choice (I'd still like him to bake as long as possible, and I still don't trust U/S measurements).

Assuming his health will be okay, there may be a silver lining to this in that Type II diabetes does run in my family, and this is a good time to put some better habits in place before our schedule goes completely haywire after the birth. I just have to convince hubby that I can still have no-calorie drinks -- dude wants me on milk and water ONLY now. I wonder what he'll say if I ask him for a glass of Moroccan syrup -- er -- tea?

[sandinista! 1,816]

there are several important things to bear in mind when considering some of the arguments put forth by those opposed to the standard cdc vaccine schedule. someone mentioned here that because their titer levels show that they are not immune to certain diseases, this means "vaccines don't necessarily work". that's not what that means at all. vaccination effectiveness is based on the principles of herd immunity. basically, the more immune individuals present in a population, the lower the likelihood that a susceptible person will come into contact with an infected individual. it can even be argued that people who can be vaccinated, and who do develop immunity to communicable diseases have a responsibility to protect those whose immune systems can't handle vaccines, like babies with immune disorders, or an organ transplant, or those individuals that vaccines don't induce immunity in. chickenpox may not seem scary to the mothers of healthy children, but mothers whose children have immune disorders or organ transplants find plenty to be scared of with chickenpox. pregnant women, who can experience stillborn infants and birth defects after chickenpox exposure may find it kind of scary too. rubella can be pretty scary to them as well.

in other words, i didn't just vaccinate to protect my kids, i vaccinated to protect other people's kids too.

in the 1960s, three human cell lines were made from the fetal tissue of three aborted fetuses. the same tissue has been maintained (and never added to) for over 40 years, for the purpose of growing viruses to develop vaccines. unfortunately, there is no alternative whatsoever for attaining vaccinations from another source. there simply isn't one. as much as i oppose abortion, the immorality of the consequences of not vaccinating far outweigh the immorality of how these tissues were obtained, in my opinion.

as well, i've never seen any credible research that cited any benefit to spacing out vaccines differently than the cdc schedule. it just leaves children susceptible to diseases for a longer period of time.

why i absolutely vaccinated my children against hepatitis b as infants-

Based on these data, approximately 16,000 children under 10 years of age were infected with HBV beyond the postnatal period each year before routine infant vaccination was recommended in 1991. In contrast to other vaccine-preventable diseases of childhood, HBV infection in infants and young children is usually asymptomatic. Thus, the small number of reported cases of hepatitis B among children represents the tip of the iceberg of all HBV infections in children. For every child with symptoms of hepatitis B, there are at least 100 children with asymptomatic HBV infection. Although infections in young children represented less than 10% of all HBV infections before implementation of routine childhood hepatitis B vaccination, childhood infections resulted in an estimated 30–40% of chronic HBV infections among persons who acquired their infections in the U.S. Based on the age-specific risk of chronic HBV infection, it is estimated that about one-third of the 1.25 million Americans with chronic HBV infection acquired their infection as infants or young children. Children who become chronically infected have a 25% risk of dying prematurely from liver cancer or cirrhosis.-http://www.immunize.org/askexperts/experts_hepb.asp

[Eshansmommy 2]

Hey everyone!

My husband and I have 2 children.

Eshan is 22 months and Inaiyah will be 3 months on the 13th!

[Marina-Del 10]

Awww...they are cute! Thanks for sharing!

[Nessa 23]

hi eshansmommy, welcome to the group.

[Staashi 371]

I get up for a little while when my husband comes in from work at 3 am, and I've read that activity can throw off the fasting number if the body thinks it needs to dump stored glucose into the bloodstream for energy (Staashi, you might have some insight on this), but I'll go over that with the nurse in a few days, and I think they're going to set me up for some classes as well.

I do worry about effects this may already have had on the baby, but I wasn't diabetic when I got pregnant, and I know they test at 28 weeks to allow enough time to get things under control, so I trust he'll be fine. His heart sounds good, and nothing else looks unusual. I guess they may decide to induce or plan a c/s a little early as they did with Staashi, but we'll roll with it if they give us no choice (I'd still like him to bake as long as possible, and I still don't trust U/S measurements).

Carol Anne - I've been wondering about you...hadn't seen you around lately. Here's what I do know - my diabetes nurse mentioned that I always need to get my fasting glucose first thing in the morning because when I began to move around (beyond going to the bathroom), my stored glucose would go into action and up my fasting levels. So, I was always sure to have my meter right by my bed - this was also important to have there because I would wake up with sugar lows on occasion and I needed to know what my level was at that time at well.

4.2 lbs is a shocker - but you'll be able to control it. I will let you know that those U/S are more accurate than you think...normally within a pound up or down. Now that you are diagnosed with GD, they might start having you see a neonatalogist to keep tabs on the baby's weight and growth, which isn't bad because it keeps you very informed on how he's doing. I highly advise you to start eating lots of dietary fiber...it will keep you full and keep your blood sugars very stable. You are going to be just fine, and that baby should not have any problems. Also, I thought I was going to be induced early, but I went to the hospital at 39 weeks instead of 38...didn't have Enzo until I was 39.5 weeks.

[chnst 6]

why i absolutely vaccinated my children against hepatitis b as infants-

Based on these data, approximately 16,000 children under 10 years of age were infected with HBV beyond the postnatal period each year before routine infant vaccination was recommended in 1991. In contrast to other vaccine-preventable diseases of childhood, HBV infection in infants and young children is usually asymptomatic. Thus, the small number of reported cases of hepatitis B among children represents the tip of the iceberg of all HBV infections in children. For every child with symptoms of hepatitis B, there are at least 100 children with asymptomatic HBV infection. Although infections in young children represented less than 10% of all HBV infections before implementation of routine childhood hepatitis B vaccination, childhood infections resulted in an estimated 30–40% of chronic HBV infections among persons who acquired their infections in the U.S. Based on the age-specific risk of chronic HBV infection, it is estimated that about one-third of the 1.25 million Americans with chronic HBV infection acquired their infection as infants or young children. Children who become chronically infected have a 25% risk of dying prematurely from liver cancer or cirrhosis.-http://www.immunize.org/askexperts/experts_hepb.asp

that was 18 years ago. 16,000 children each year, that makes about 0.3% of the population, in 1991, before the vaccine was introduced. The way of presenting this kind of information is very misleading. Don't get me wrong, I am not opposing immunizations. No one here does. I believe they are necessary, yet I don't see a benefit in vaccinating a 2 day old infant against Hepatitis when it is rather unlikely to contract the disease at this age, given the hygienic standards of a third world country. I don't believe that herd immunity would be affected if some parents choose to delay certain vaccines for a few months. There are however some well-founded concerns about injecting several (up to 8!) vaccines into an 8lb infant. A vaccine is considered a drug and there have always been side effects. If you would like to read some more about this, check out the vaccine book by Dr sears.

[HLM 1]

Hey everyone!

My husband and I have 2 children.

Eshan is 22 months and Inaiyah will be 3 months on the 13th!

Welcome your babies are adorable!

Concerning the topic of vaccination; I will definitly vaccinate my baby.

[Missbollinger 1]

I've been reading and not posting because Henry has kept me busy. He is starting to sleep 7 hours a night now folllowed by another 3 hours and then 2 hours before we start our day!

Congrats to all the new babies and babies to be!

Edited June 5, 2009 by Missbollinger