A Little Something Extra

Thursday, October 1, 2009

It's 31 for 21 time!!!

Get It Down; 31 for 21

Welcome to Down Syndrome Awareness Month. In an attempt to increase awareness, I'm going to try to blog every day this month (a task that might be beyond reach given our upcoming move to MN, but I'll try). I may not blog about DS every day, but I'll try to put a post out there.

Let's start with a request for questions. Is there anything you've wondered about Down syndrome (or Micah specifically) but were afraid to ask? I'll try to get to questions throughout the month. You can post questions anonymously. As long as it's not completely disrespectful or something, I'll answer.

I tried 31 for 21 last October too. Given the circumstances, I was pretty successful (I posted 24 of 31 days). Micah was in the hospital the first 10 days of the month (after being admitted on 9/28/08 for what was eventually determined to be a GI virus). I'm thrilled that it's been almost a full year since Micah had an overnight in the hospital (he had his little boy surgery in December and didn't have to stay!).

Ooo, one more question for y'all to contribute to the postings... Are you giving your kids (DS or not) the seasonal flu vaccine and/or the H1N1 vaccine?

8 comments:

paige said...

jennie - i'm afraid of looking dumb - but i've wondered about Micah's hand. Does he have a unique hand? it's hard to see from the pics - & if so, is it a result of ds? i'm really excited about 31 for 21 - i would love to learn more.
& no, we don't give seasonal vaccines to our littles (or to ourselves) - i totally believe that the healthcare workers have our best interests in mind, but i have some serious qualms about the pharmaceutical companies who come out with the vaccines. i have some major ethical concerns with other vaccines that have used aborted fetal tissue & unethical testing regimes & so aside from the whole mercury, aluminium, formaldehyde debate, we have decided to stay away completely. The vatican (i'm not catholic, but i love Jesus & i think the Vatican has good things to say sometimes) issued a statement about vaccines that i thought was really helpful to dh & i in making this decision... i know - i went off topic - sorry!

Jonathan said...

HI Jennie, we're looking forward to all your posts!

We're not doing seasonal or H1N1 vaccines for anyone in our family. I have lots of reasons-happy to share if you're interested-but we also totally respect that other families come up with different decisions than we do.

One thing I will post about H1N1, though-since a national health emergency has been proclaimed, if any child is injured/sickened by this vaccine, there is no legal recourse for the child and his/her family. The makers of the vaccine cannot be held liable. That's not necessarily the case for other vaccines.

Again, though, we still love you if you decide in favor of it. :)

Amy

Cate said...

My kids will get both vaccines, on the recommendation of our pediatrician.

Angela said...

Hi Jennie! I don't have any questions other than could Micah possibly be ANY cuter!?! K- that wasn't really a question, more of a comment ;)Your little guy just makes me smile when I see pictures of his beautiful face. Can't wait to meet you all in person!

In regards to vaccination- we are not. We actually haven't vaccinated any of our kids for anything. We plan to delay... however, I've been saying that for years and my daughter just turned 7 and still hasn't had any vax! I kind of just keep putting it off, and at this point- I'm not sure when/if we'll even do it. I know that when we do, there will only be a few they will get. As far as the flu vax and the H1N1 vax, our pediatritian (who normally is pro-vax) has recommended against them. She's always said that the regular flu vax doesn't work half the time anyway- and this year, when I was in a few weeks ago with Christian, she was very against the H1N1 vax.

Now- all that being said- I think it's a really personal decision for people because not everyone has the same situation. If I had a child who had a compromised immune system, I honestly am not sure what I would do... I would probably vaccinate other family members, at least for the seasonal flu.

It's really a hard decision- regardless of which way you choose!

Kelly said...

No to both vaccinations. I won't get them either. I just don't think the benefits outweigh the risks. Having said that, my kids have both gotten all of their other shots, but I won't let them get more than 2 at a time, which means that I also made the doctor break up the MMR vaccine into 3 separate shots. I just think it's too much for their little bodies.

Kris Delaney said...

No flu vacs for Erin of either kind, however, I am still struggling with that decision. Dr. S strongly suggests it for Erin. But I don't like the idea of the mercury and the fact that it hasn't been tested. And, truth be told, Erin seems to have about the best immune system in our family. She is generally less sick than the other kids, less often or less severe (I know that is not always the case in kids with T21, but it is a factor in our personal decision). We also delay other vacs and opt out of others all together. I'm also open for leaning more info, so if you've done your own research, post away! Thanks. Kris

Jessica-MomForHim said...

We've always done all our vaccinations for us and the kids, including the flu vaccine every year. We've never had any issues, and personally I think the potential protection outweighs the risks.

We will skip the H1N1 because there just isn't enough research/testing done on it yet, and it's not like we're in the middle of an outbreak. If we were, I might reconsider.

I am interested in finding out what Paige knows about vaccines that have used aborted fetal tissue, since I've never heard that before and that would be an ethical concern for me as well.

I don't have anything against people who decide not to vaccinate, but I do wonder what would happen if we ALL decided not to vaccinate anymore...

Kim said...

Happy Down syndrome awareness month! I did pretty good last year with the 31 for 21, but I'm not so sure I can do it this year. We are so busy. Good luck with all your posts! I'm looking forward to reading them.

Btw.....we aren't getting the vaccines.