Last night I hosted a surprise baby shower for a lady in our church, she is due in another month and I usually wait until the baby is born – it is so much more fun to be able to hold the baby – but doing it before we left for California worked best.

Lots of good debates and discussion arose from all of those experienced mothers to this young doe-eyed lady who has yet to know what she’s gotten herself (and her hubby) into. From sharing birth stories – and I only let them share the positive ones, no need to fill her mind with fear – to whether or not to circumcise. We didn’t get into my favourite dicusssion though but I’m sure we will one day. Whether or not to immunize your child? (I didn’t get a chance to share my view on circumcision – I will have to do that one day soon.)

I was reading Stephanie at Adventures In Babywearing blog this morning and she eluded to an old post on Immunization so I thought I’d link that post HERE. It’s really informational and well worth the read. Needless to say I am against getting my kids immunized and I have my own personal reasons. I was, first of all, raised in a house where we did not get the shots and we were very healthy children / adults. My younger sister (Lala) never had her shots either until going to Africa (had to get all the shots) and since then her immune system has been compromised.

I made the mistake of getting my first born his first two shots. He had such a bad reaction to it (a coincidence my doctor said) where his breathing was so laboured he had to be given a puffer which made his eyeballs shake. Afterwards the nurse asked if there was a history of respiratory issues in my family and if so that I could have waited until he was older and bigger to get the shot (wait until he’s 5). My jaw dropped – I couldn’t believe they were only asking this AFTER his reaction. My mother-in-law had HUGE respiratory issues, using a puffer almost every few hours and was on oxygen before she passed away, my hubby’s grandmother died in her 40’s of an asthma attack, my dad suffered with bronchial-phenomena for decades and still has to watch his environment ’cause it gets difficult to breathe. HELLO do you think this qualifies for a family “issue”?!!

I said from that moment on – forget it – not my children. They have all been fine, actually great. They get a cold here and there but for the most part they are very healthy. With the exception of my first child who was always really sensitive to foods, detergents, soaps, etc. Many allergies which he is growing out of. I continue to pray over his immune system, to be returned to the way I know God created him to be. We pray the Word over them every night. Sickness will not be a part of my household.

Sometimes this can be a heated debate but I say – inform yourself and make THE best decision for your family – based on your level of understanding at that moment. The Bible says we parish because of a lack of knowledge, apply wisdom to that and you have understanding. Do your homework! Pray for your answer and do not – under any circumstance – make your decision based on fear!!! Anything you do that is motivated by fear will back fire later in life and slap you upside the head.

p.s. My kids are not homeschooled – they are in the public school system and all I had to do was fill out an affidavit saying that vaccinations were against my personal and religious beliefs. It gets filed with the Public Health Office and the school must leave me and my kids alone. In Ontario (at least) they cannot force me to have them immunized. I didn’t know about it until I checked into it. Check with your local PHO and see what your rights are.