Oh the pressures...

There's a whole freakin' lot of responsibility that comes with being a parent. I'm not even one yet, but I find at times that I feel a little overwhelmed by the decisions that you have to make very early in your child's life despite not having a chance to educate yourself first.

This is a bit related to my previous post about educating yourself to make the best decisions in your own situation. I was having a discussion with the co-worker who originally sent me to my new chiropractor. This is a woman who I respect very highly and whose opinion I hold in high regard. We began to discuss the latest research that connects infant vaccinations to autism, ADD, ADHD and additional behavioral disorders. It really got me thinking about how little we know about the long term effects that these "chemicals" are having on our children.

I'm only just beginning to do my own research on the subject and I plan on discussing this more in depth later as I become better informed, but I was shocked to learn that mercury is used as the main preservative in vaccinations (known as thiomersol) and that these behavioral disorders are often seen to be developing immediately following standard childhood inoculations. Not only that, but the symptoms of autism are nearly identical to those of mercury poisoning.

The problem is that the U.S. Government and the CDC refuse to release information that has been gathered in their experiments on this subject. Europe has been much more forthcoming with information and dozens of countries now explicitly ban these preservatives while they still sit on the shelf, waiting to be used in the U.S.

Anyhow, I will continue to update with information I gather. I can't guarantee that I won't automatically refuse vaccinations for our daughter, but at least we're going to be heavily weigh our options and decide what is best for her. As much as I would like to post some websites that I think you should visit, I'm going to hold off until I feel as though I've looked at this argument from both sides. Until then, I encourage any parents-to-be reading this to start their own research and arm themselves with information.

Dr. Steve

This is just a quick follow-up to my journey through pregnancy back pain. After hearing rave reviews from a co-worker about the chiropractor she has been seeing since she first became pregnant 3 years ago, I gave him a call and was fit in for an appointment Thursday afternoon. All I have to say is that Dr. Steve (just what I call him...not actually what he goes by) is a miracle worker. He adjusted several of my vertebrae and took away so much of my pain that I could not believe how much better I felt.

As most of you know, I was very hesitant about seeing a chiropractor because I'm a little over-protective of my spinal cord. I couldn't be happier that I took a referral from a friend and found someone trust worthy and competent to help ease these aches and pains of pregnancy. I'm finally sleeping normally again and able to put my focus back on life. I even saw him again this morning and will continue to do so as often as I can throughout this pregnancy and after. So to all pregnant ladies, find yourself a great chiropractor. You'll thank me.

About those aches and pains...

Ok, so for all of you who tuned into yesterdays post about my back ache and my medication struggle, I didn't want to keep you on the edge of your seat much longer. I decided I just wasn't sure enough about the oxycodone to go ahead and take it last night. I did manage to get a little bit of sleep when I sat straight up on the couch, but those three hours didn't leave me feeling very well rested. So, I hemmed and hawed all day and spent half my day at work researching all of the horrible and detrimental side effects of giving this medicine to my little Tazby. I even made an appointment with a chiropractor and called my midwife for her expert opinion. After all the research and pain, I decided I was going to do the dreaded thing and "pop the pill".

So I took this little miracle pill that I didn't want to take, but I did it because I thought it was going to be the solution to all of my problems. And guess what? It didn't work! It didn't even leave me pain free for 30 minutes. Seriously, what a waste of hemming and hawing. Now it's back to the starting board. I'll let you know how it goes. Maybe the chiropractor will even call me back tomorrow. That visit will be a whole post in and of itself. If you happen to have any insight, feel free to comment. I could use any help I can get right now!

Aches and Pains

Well, I'm currently 28 and 6 days along in this pregnancy which means that I'm officially in the third trimester! YAY for me for making it this far without any major psycho-hormonal moments! Well, I haven't asked my husband yet if that's really true, but I can't remember any so I'm going with it.

Pregnancy has really been great up until now (once I got past that morning sickness, of course), but as much as I already love my little girl, but I have to say that this baby is getting on my nerves....literally. I saw a doc today to check out why my back feels like it's had a knife sticking out of it for the last several days. Apparently Tazby has decided to wedge herself on a nerve cluster in my back and is refusing to budge. Well, despite Timmy's stern talk with her and my threatening to ground her as soon as she makes her first appearance, she still isn't letting me sleep at night or focus on anything at work.

So the doc did the only thing he really could do (following a thorough examination)...he wrote me a prescription for percocet. Now, I'm not on the "natural birth" train when it comes to labor and delivery and will happily welcome an anesthesiologist into my room when the time is right, but I've really tried to avoid medications since I've been pregnant. I have my pill case stocked with pre-natal vitamins, tums, and extra-strength tylenol, but the vitamins are the only ones I take with any sort of regularity. As you can tell, I'm a little apprehensive about taking any dose of a pain killer...even one prescribed by an ob/gyn with full knowledge of my pregnancy. I haven't taken one yet and I'm not sure if I plan on it, but I guess I can't say until I've reached another sleepless night yet.

I guess the point is that I'm not trying to judge anyone who relies on prescription medication for any affliction, but in my own opinion, it's important to do your own research and decide for yourself what is best for you (and your baby, if the case my be). Just because a doctor prescribes it, you don't have to take it. I'll let you know tomorrow if I caved in and took a little help to ease my pain. Either way, I won't doubt my decision because I'll know I made the choice that was best for us.