Vaccinations - The few and the loud

Our son is turning 12 weeks old this week, and last thursday we had our two month vaccination appointment with the calgary health region. We knew this was coming up for a while and have had quite a few discussions about it.


First thing that came up was about an Oprah show that was on a while ago, where Jennie Garth came on, and talked about her child that became autistic after getting the "MMR" shot (of which I have learned is the coined term for Measels, Mumps, Rhubella). I of course went online and started looking at sites that talked about it, and the more I read, the more I didnt want to read about it. It seems the web is inundated with blogs and websites that talk about how adverse reactions have occurred when getting immunization shots.


Secondly, we had our 2 month checkup about a week or so ago, everything went great, he was heathly, but of course, I had all this in my mind, where I heard this term used by our doctor. "The few and the loud". Our doctor said, and of course this is true about anything, for everything that is out there, you can find the adverse opinion on it. I read recently that eating out can actually make you lose weight, when they have been saying all along, to staying home is the easiest way to cut out greasy foods. Anyways, so our doctor said to go to the Canadian Pediatric Society, read up, find out that there havent been any cases that has proven that immunization and autism are related in any way.

You could tell she has heard this before and think its rediculous that people listen to the "few and the loud" on a issue that has no fact behind it. We were also told that the vaccines for Canada and the US are also different. She couldnt tell us where the vaccines were coming from though, she didnt know off the top of her head. So hearing this did make me feel better, although I did feel I had to realize like a Michael Moore movie, just because someone says it, doesnt make it 100% accurate and true. But I trust my doctor with my son's life, at least to quite a large degree.

Lastly, my fiancee brought up a good point, that my sister in law had, which is they have a guideline of when you are to bring your child in for immunizations. 2 months, 4 months, 6 months... etc. However, this is based on simply a time schedule, what happens if your child was born premature, or is not as big as other babies, yet they get the same amount of drugs as any other child. I believe my sister-in-law waited until their child was 4 months as they were concerned about her size and this fact. Luckily our baby is in the 97th percentile when it comes to height, and 75th when it comes to weight, so we were pretty sure he was more than ok to have the shot.

I will not forget anytime soon the look he gave me when taking the three shots though. He screamed, turned beet red, cried a tear, all of which he does VERY rarely. I had to stay tough for him, keep him calm, know that he can still trust me after this, and I am trying to do whats best for him, all in the look on my face, and the tone in my voice. All while my fiancee is crying as well 2 feet away. But luckily the nurse was fast, and our little man was so strong, that 10 seconds after it was done, he stopped and began nursing like a champ. We were so proud of him.

Anyways, this was not the infamous MMR shot, so I have to say I am nervous a little for 2 months down the road. I want to know if anyone else had doubts, are there any parents that have not immunized their kids? Did they wait til later? Are there certain ones that they just didnt get? Thanks for your help as always...