Friday, June 4, 2010

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.

7 comments:

  1. I know how frustrating that can be! I'm sending you healthy vibes! Have you been taking lots of Vit. D? I started my whole family on it last fall & we were significantly less sick this cold/flu season.
    Also, the lack of sun plus the extra rain plus the horrible allergy season we've been having might have something to do with it.
    The last thing I wanted to mention is, have you tried the Salt Grotto? I've heard it's really great for a lot of things. It just opened up recently in Portland.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I haven't heard of the Salt Grotto. I'll have to look that up.

    Sadly I haven't been taking my Vit D or prenatals like I should, I just forget. I also forget to give vit D to BuggaBoo (oops). I'll be sure to start that back up. Thanks for the tip!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh honey I feel your pain and your sense of betrayal. One HUGE reason I chose to nurse as long as I did was in hopes of sparing my kids the misery of my allergies. Guess what, they have them as bad if not worse than I did as a kid.
    It is infuriating.
    I can say that there is a pretty darn good chance that your level of immunity to the diseases that you were vaccinated against as a child isn't enough to pass through your breast milk and inoculate your little ones. The BIG thing that nursing protects against are those small annoying colds and viruses. But your gal has a compromised immune system from the RSV and little man is touching and interacting with his environment WAY more now. It is bound to happen.
    Just wait until you STOP nursing and they go to school! UGH!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'll pump and send it in their lunchbox. That will be one food they'll never trade.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, hope your little ones feel better ...

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've been hearing a lot about the Vitamin D thing. I think that's a good suggestion.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm so sorry Krista :( Whenever you say Doozer is sick again i just go "AGAIN???" The poor thing :(

    But i third the vitamin D3. I know my midwives really support it and say it helps with the immune system. When we visited and i told her i was exposed to RSV (which she said was no biggie for me) she recommended i take 30,000 units of vitamin D for 3 days straight. And then on normal days (when i remember) i take 10,000 units.

    Good luck! Can't wait for you to visit!

    ReplyDelete