Caution: Complaining Ahead, Also Some Controversy

BuggaBoo is sick. Again. I don't know what it is but he's never been this sick this often. Is it because he's a more social creature now and all of his friends get sick? It's a mystery to me.

I wouldn't worry so much about BuggaBoo being sick if it weren't for the fact that I have a 3-month-old Doozer in the house. And I think she's getting what BuggaBoo has. Again. What do I think BuggaBoo has?

Whooping cough.

If you follow the above link and read the first two paragraphs those are exactly the symptoms BuggaBoo has had to date. Tired, wet productive cough, clear runny nose, lack of appetite, low grade fever, sneezing.

Doozer has had a cough (not as wet or as often as BuggaBoo's), sneezing, and today she's been not very hungry, had a low fever (99.5*) and SO tired. She has taken two loooooong naps and they weren't in the wrap, they were on the couch. She hardly ever naps on the couch. When she does nap on the couch it's never for more than 10-15 minutes. These naps have been hours long.

But here's the curve ball: Doozer just cut her first tooth two days ago. She's in the process of cutting her second. All the symptoms I listed for her are symptoms of teething.

We went to the pediatrician yesterday and got BuggaBoo swabbed to send in a test for whooping cough.

What's that? Are you asking, "Isn't he vaccinated for whooping cough?" Uh, no. Hoo boy. I'm not going into our entire vaccination philosophy right now, but to sum it up we are going to selectively vaccinate on a delayed schedule. Very, very delayed. One major reason is The Hubby has Type I diabetes and there is a strong correlation between vaccinations and the development of Type I diabetes. There is more to it than that but we have basically looked at the risks of vaccinating and the risks and odds of catching those diseases and have decided we can deal with the disease odds better.

The Hubby and I talked about this. If we could go back in time we would probably make the same decision as we have already, to not vaccinate for whooping cough. Heck, we don't even know if that's what we're dealing with. But my mommy senses have been tingling for over a week now that what I'm dealing with is whooping cough, and that was before BuggaBoo was exhibiting any major symptoms. I hope in this case my mommy senses are wrong.

And here's the major whine of it all: I'm feeling like my body is letting my children down. I'm breastfeeding both of them, aren't I supposed to be protecting them through my breastmilk? Isn't my body supposed to protect their little bodies? I know the breast can create antibodies for specific diseases after an infected child nurses and passes the pathogen to the breast, so why didn't it work? Why are my kids sick? Why has Doozer been SO sick for SO long? Has any other mother felt this way?

I just don't know.