Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Creates Shingles Epidemic

Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Creates Shingles Epidemic

Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine: This Is Why a Shingles Epidemic Is Bolting Straight at the U.S.

November 02, 2010 | 361,680 views

Diane Murphy, MD, is the Director of the FDA's Office of Pediatric Therapeutics (OPT). The mission of OPT is to enforce a Congressional mandate that assures access for children to innovative, safe, and effective medical products.
Historically, many medical products have not been tested for use in children, leading to an increase in adverse events and the use of ineffective products.
Murphy notes that young children and neonates require the development of a new directional endpoint that can better help us to not treat children with our best guess, but with knowledge.

 

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

It's now been fifteen years since Merck's chickenpox (varicella) vaccine was approved for market.
What had always been regarded as a relatively benign childhood illness was suddenly reinvented in the 1990s as a life-threatening disease for which children must get vaccinated or face dire health consequences.
But wait—Merck to the rescue!
As is true with many new and potentially unnecessary medical interventions used on a widespread basis, there are often unintended consequences. The chickenpox (varicella) vaccine is a perfect example.
By trying to prevent all children from experiencing chickenpox naturally, this policy may have actually created a NEW epidemic—not in children but in adults, especially elderly adults.
Vaccinating children for chickenpox may very well be causing a shingles epidemic.

Chickenpox—Another False Epidemic

Before the live virus chickenpox vaccine was licensed in the United States in 1995, most children acquired a natural, long-lasting immunity to chickenpox by age six. For 99.9 percent of healthy children, chickenpox is a mild disease without complications.
It is estimated there were about 3.7 million cases of chickenpox annually in the U.S. before 1995^,1 resulting in an average of 100 deaths (50 children and 50 adults, most of whom were immunocompromised). This hardly represents a dire, life-threatening epidemic that requires mass vaccination of all children!
Chickenpox is caused by the varicella zoster virus, which is a member of the herpesvirus family and is associated with herpes zoster (shingles). Chickenpox is highly contagious but typically produces a mild disease characterized by small round lesions on your skin that cause intense itching. Chickenpox lasts for two to three weeks, and recovery leaves a child with long-lasting immunity.
Half of all cases of chickenpox occur in children ages five to nine. Before the vaccine was licensed in 1995 and states started passing laws mandating that children get it to attend school, it was estimated that only 10 percent of Americans over the age of 15 had not had chickenpox.
Up to 20 percent of adults who get chickenpox develop severe complications such as pneumonia, secondary bacterial infections, and brain inflammation (which is reported in less than one percent of children who get chickenpox). Most children and adults who develop these serious complications have compromised immune systems or other health problems.
Although chickenpox is typically not dangerous, there is a related disease that is more of a cause for concern: shingles.

Chickenpox's Evil Cousin: Shingles

Chickenpox and shingles are related. They are caused by similar viruses, both in the herpesvirus family. After you recover from chickenpox, the virus can remain dormant ("asleep") in your nerve roots for many years, unless it is awakened by some triggering factor, such as physical or emotional stress. When awakened, it presents itself as shingles rather than chickenpox.
Shingles is marked by pain and often a blister-like rash on one side of your body, left or right. Other symptoms can include headache and flu-like symptoms. Shingles typically runs its course in three to five weeks.
Although very painful, most people who get shingles will recover without serious complications and will not get it a second time. However, in people with weakened immune systems, shingles complications can be severe or life threatening. The most common complication is postherpetic neuralgia,² or PHN, where the pain may last for months or even years after the rash has healed. The pain is caused by damaged nerve fibers, which then persist in sending pain messages to your brain.
Other less frequent complications include bacterial skin infections, Hutchinson's sign, Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, motor neuropathy, meningitis, hearing loss, blindness, and bladder impairment.
A person with shingles can infect someone who hasn't had chickenpox, who may then develop chickenpox rather than shingles.
If you do develop shingles, as I mentioned earlier this summer, you can use topical honey to treat shingles symptoms and it appears to work better than the drugs.

Chickenpox Is Nature's Way of Protecting You from Shingles

Nature has devised an elegant plan for protecting you from the shingles virus.
After contracting and recovering from chickenpox (usually as a child), as you age, your natural immunity gets asymptomatically "boosted" by coming into contact with infected children, who are recovering from chickenpox. This natural "boosting" of natural immunity to the varicella (chickenpox) virus helps protect you from getting shingles later in life.
This is true whether you are a child, adolescent, young adult, or elderly—every time you come into contact with someone infected with chickenpox, you get a natural "booster shot" that protects you from a painful—and expensive—bout with shingles.
In other words, shingles can be prevented by ordinary contact, such as receiving a hug from a grandchild who is getting or recovering from the chickenpox. But with the advent of the chickenpox vaccine, there is less chickenpox around to provide that natural immune boost for children AND adults.
So as chickenpox rates have declined, shingles rates have begun to rise, and there is mounting evidence that an epidemic of shingles is developing in America from the mass, mandatory use of the chickenpox vaccine by all children.
As hard as scientists try to come up with ways to "improve" human biology, they just can't outsmart Mother Nature. In trying to tinker with the natural order of things, we tend to destroy processes that nature has masterfully orchestrated to keep us healthy.
This dance between chickenpox and shingles is a perfect example.

Vaccine Protection Is Only Temporary

The chickenpox (varicella) vaccine is made from live, attenuated (weakened) varicella virus. But chickenpox vaccine provides only TEMPORARY immunity, and even that immunity is not the same kind of superior, longer lasting immunity that you get when you recover naturally from chickenpox.
It's important to realize that naturally acquiring a case of chickenpox is the ONLY way you can establish longer lasting immunity that will protect you until you come in contact with younger children with chickenpox and are asymptomatically boosted, which will not only reinforce your chickenpox immunity but will also help protect you against getting a painful case of shingles later in life.
When the chickenpox vaccine was licensed for public use in 1995, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimated it was 70 to 90 percent effective in preventing disease.³ The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) later reported, "The effectiveness of the vaccine is 44 percent against disease of any severity and 86 percent against moderate or severe disease."
But the vaccine may be LESS effective than that—around 40 percent—according to an investigation of a chickenpox outbreak among 23 children at a New Hampshire daycare center. The outbreak began with a child who had already been vaccinated.
And a Washington Post article reported that, in another outbreak, 75 percent of the children who came down with chickenpox had previously been vaccinated for it!
It is also interesting to note that most 10 year-old children with no known history of chickenpox are actually immune.
A study in Quebec, Canada, involving 2,000 fourth graders was done to determine the proportion of children who would need to be vaccinated in a "catch-up" program.
Of the youngsters with negative or unknown chickenpox histories, 63 percent had antibodies against the virus, presumably from having had such a mild case that they didn't even realize they had it. This isn't terribly surprising given that healthy children occasionally have minimal symptoms (such as a low fever and headache), without manifestation of blisters, indistinguishable from a mild case of the flu.
Bottom line is, the vast majority of children who do NOT get the chickenpox vaccine wind up immune to chickenpox anyway.

The Chickenpox Vaccine Itself Can Cause Injury or Death

As is true with most vaccines, mass use of the chickenpox (varicella) vaccine has been followed by many reports of serious reactions, injuries and deaths.
Before consenting to your child's receiving this vaccine, consider the following:

• Between March 1995 and July 1998, the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) received 6,574 reports of health problems⁴ after chickenpox vaccination. This translates to: one in 1,481 chickenpox vaccinations is followed by an adverse health event.
• Four percent of reported adverse events (about 1 in 33,000 doses) involves  serious health problems such as shock, encephalitis (brain inflammation), and thrombocytopenia (a blood disorder)
• 14 of the 6,574 chickenpox vaccine adverse event reports ended in death
• As a result of the reported vaccine reactions, 17 warnings for adverse events were added to the manufacturer's product label⁵ AFTER the vaccine was licensed and being used on a mass basis (including cellulitis, transverse myelitis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, and shingles)
• There have been documented cases of accidental transmission of varicella vaccine strain virus from a vaccinated child to household contacts, including transmission to a pregnant woman
• Adverse vaccine events are notoriously underreported—by as much as 90 percent, according to some experts—making the safety profile potentially even worse than the above statistics would suggest

The chickenpox vaccine may be even more risky when combined with other vaccines, like MMR.
According to Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC):⁶

"We have been getting reports from parents that their children are suffering high fevers, chickenpox lesions, shingles, brain damage and dying after chicken pox vaccination, especially when the vaccine is given at the same time with MMR and other vaccines."

Many questions remain unanswered.
For example, will a young pregnant woman, who got varicella vaccine as a child instead of recovering from natural chickenpox, pass on vaccine induced antibodies to her newborn baby like mothers used to pass on natural maternal antibodies to chickenpox to their newborns?
This is one of many questions about mass use of chickenpox vaccine that is being debated today.

The Birth of an Epidemic

Now, 15 years into the mass use of chickenpox (varicella) vaccine , there are signs a shingles epidemic is underway.
This is not surprising when you consider that the mechanism keeping shingles largely at bay has been drastically reduced, if not eliminated because older children and adults are no longer coming into contact with younger children experiencing chickenpox and there is less and less natural "boosting" of immunity occurring in our population.
The natural "herd" immunity to chickenpox among Americans is being lost and we are becoming vaccine dependent. PLUS a shingles epidemic is taking shape.
Research done by Gary S. Goldman, Ph.D. who served for eight years as a Research Analyst with the Varicella Active Surveillance Project in Los Angeles County with funding from the CDC, revealed higher rates of shingles in Americans since the government's 1995 recommendation that all children receive chickenpox vaccine.⁷
According to an article describing his work:

"Dr. Goldman's findings have corroborated other independent researchers who estimate that if chickenpox were to be nearly eradicated by vaccination, the higher number of shingles cases could continue in the U.S. for up to 50 years; and that while death rates from chickenpox are already very low, any deaths prevented by vaccination will be offset by deaths from increasing shingles disease. (Emphasis mine)

Goldman was so concerned about an epidemic of shingles that he has co-written a book on the matter, entitled The Chickenpox Vaccine: A New Epidemic of Disease and Corruption.
Dr. Goldman isn't the only one who is concerned about a potential shingles epidemic.
A team at Britain's Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) found that adults living with children enjoy higher levels of protection from shingles. They stated that, although chickenpox can be life threatening for the immunocompromised, thousands of elderly people could also die from the complications of shingles. PHLS called for a re-evaluation of the policy of mass chickenpox vaccination in the U.S., as well as other countries implementing this practice.
For decades, shingles was thought to increase with age as older individuals' immune systems weakened. However, research suggests this phenomenon is more a result of the fact that older people receive fewer natural boosts to immunity as their contacts with young children decline.
In fact, the effectiveness of the chickenpox vaccine itself depends on natural boosting, so as chickenpox disease rates decline, so will the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Are These Predictions Coming True?

Absolutely.
The incidence of adult shingles has increased by 90 percent from 1998 to 2003, following the release of the chickenpox vaccine for mass use. Shingles results in three times as many deaths and five times as many hospitalizations as chickenpox, and accounts for 75 percent of all medical costs associated with the varicella zoster virus.⁸
Even children are beginning to come down with shingles,⁹ as evidenced by school nurse reports since 2000, which was one of the concerns prompting Dr. Goldman to warn the CDC that it may be bringing about a shingles epidemic.
Prior to chickenpox vaccination, shingles was seen only in adults.
All evidence points to the fact that we have traded a relatively mild illness (chickenpox), which does NOT involve complications for 99.9 percent of healthy children, for a more serious illness in our elderly (shingles) that has the potential for compromising the health of an entire population.
Another peer-reviewed article by Dr. Goldman presents a cost-benefit analysis of the chickenpox vaccination program,¹⁰ with disturbing findings. chickenpox (varicella) vaccine would have to be universally used for at least 50 years to demonstrate a cost benefit, due to the substantial additional medical cost of a shingles epidemic. This is CLEARLY not worth it, when chickenpox disease presented such minimal risk to society in the first place!
What do you think was the CDC's answer to a potential shingles epidemic, when presented with Goldman's findings?
Another vaccine—of course.
Merck – the pharmaceutical giant that makes the chickenpox vaccine – rides in on their white horse with the very answer the CDC was hoping for: A shingles vaccine! Yes, shingles vaccine was developed by the same manufacturer who markets and is the sole source of chickenpox vaccine in America.
What an incredible profit-making scheme – the same drug company that profits from mass, mandatory use of the chicken pox vaccine also profits from sales of a shingles vaccine in a market created by the chickenpox vaccine!

Sound the Horns! Merck 'to the Rescue'—Again!

The FDA approved Merck's shingles vaccine (Zostavax) for use in people age 60 and older in May of 2006. So they have come out with a vaccine (shingles) to reverse the damages to your health caused by their earlier vaccine (chickenpox).
Sound familiar?
It is very much like the polypharmacy used to "treat" chronic disease. You get a drug to supposedly make you better, but it causes adverse side effects, so you are given another drug to treat those side effects. Then, THAT drug creates more problems, and pretty soon, no one can tell what's causing what, and down the drain of poor health you go.
Meanwhile, you are taking a long list of drugs, and the only people truly benefiting are the pharmaceutical companies who make money each step of the way.
In the case of varicella vaccines, they are profiting from the cause of an epidemic, as well as the supposed cure...
But is it REALLY a cure? Will a shingles vaccine prevent a shingles epidemic?

Vaccines: Public Health or Profit Center

Adult vaccination programs have rarely proved successful.
The cost of the shingles vaccine itself ($200) is prohibitive, especially for many older Americans struggling to meet monthly expenses on fixed incomes. Research shows that few adults are making use of it.¹¹
And what unanticipated health effects might the shingles vaccine have on the elderly—particularly those who are immunosuppressed or already challenged with chronic illness or cancer?
The conflicts of interest between vaccine manufacturers and vaccine researchers, and government bodies entangled with both, represent another layer of trouble.
How reliable and unbiased is the vaccine information you get if it's provided by researchers with financial ties to both vaccine manufacturers and government health agencies promoting mass, mandatory use of vaccines?
In the words of Dr. Goldman:¹²

"When research is sponsored by agencies that promote vaccination, and reimbursed by the pharmaceutical company itself, and receive enrichment by immunizing children, my experience is that they demonstrate certain biases which allow them to continue operating as profit centers and unfortunately, at least sometimes promoting vaccination to the detriment of public health."

Hundreds of Vaccines on the Way

U.S. public health doctors say your child should receive 69 doses of 16 different vaccines before age 18. And 145 more are on the way!¹³ Yes, believe it or not, Big Pharma has 145 more vaccines in the pipeline and most are in their final stages of approval, in clinical trials or under FDA review.

Vaccine Awareness Week: November 1 -- November 6, 2010

Mercola.com & the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) dedicated the first week of November 2010 as Vaccine Awareness Week!
In a collaborative effort to raise public awareness about important vaccination issues, Dr. Joseph Mercola and NVIC published a series of articles and interviews on vaccine topics of interest to Mercola.com newsletter subscribers and NVIC Vaccine E-newsletter readers. The article you've just finished reading is one of those.
Vaccine Awareness Week arose from the following shared goals:

1. Raising public awareness about the need to take an active role in preventing vaccine injuries and deaths
2. Protecting and expanding legal exemptions to vaccination by securing broad medical, religious, and conscientious belief exemptions in all state vaccine laws
3. Promoting the human right to voluntary, informed consent to medical risk-taking, including vaccination
4. Raising funds for NVIC, a non-profit charity that has been working since 1982 to educate the public about vaccination and defend the ethical principle of informed consent.

My Appeal to You

Don't sit this one out! We've got them "on the run."
Tell everyone. Tell your friends, your family. With a little bit of effort, you can make significant strides toward preserving your freedom to make VOLUNTARY health care choices – including vaccination choices – that affect you and your children's health and future.
NVIC has launched the NVIC Advocacy Portal, an online interactive database and communications network that gives you the tools you need to take action to protect legal, medical, religious, and conscientious belief exemptions to vaccination in YOUR state.
Go there now and register! And while you're at it, please make a donation to NVIC so they can continue fighting to preserve our freedom of make voluntary health choices.
Your Donations to the NVIC help fund efforts that raise vaccine awareness, including the following excellent vaccine resources:

• State Vaccine Requirements
• Influenza Mini Guide Ebook
• Special Report: Influenza Vaccine Mandates Ineffective & Unwise
• Are You Over Vaccinating Your Child?
• Vaccine Ingredients Calculator
• How to Legally Avoid Immunizations

For information about legally avoiding immunizations in Canada, please see the Canadian Vaccination Liberation website
www.vaclib.org.

For more vaccine related news and information, visit the Mercola vaccine information site.
Stay tuned to this newsletter for more updates, or follow the National Vaccine Information Center on Facebook. Together we CAN make a difference!

A Few of My Goodies

Like I said Jeremy did great with Christmas gifts again this year.  These are two of my faves.  I finished the book the day after Christmas, lol! I didn't really put it down once I got it!  And the onesie for our new little girl is just perfect!  You have to be a fan of the Walking Dead to understand it but, it is flipping awesome!!!  Another goodie he got me is a Dr. Who blanket of the Tardis!  It is soft and fuzzy and oh so darn warm! 

Craptastic Day Part 2

So, the doctor called back about 2pm and said they wanted to see Eden at 4:30.  I quickly hopped in the shower, which I didn't want to do because I felt like crap on a stick but, did it anyway so as to not offend them with my non-showered stench.  Luckily Eden had fallen asleep for a bit and I let her sleep because I knew she was feeling crappy too.  Then Jeremy got home from an appointment in Lima and said that I should not drive to the doctor now because the roads were still stupid.  So, I called the doc back and they took my word for it that Eden has the pox and called in a prescription to help shorten the duration of it.  I am to dab calamine lotion on her spots and give her colloidal oatmeal baths, tylenol and benadryl.....all of which I was already doing.  I never gave any of the other kids any prescriptions for chicken pox but, whatever, the sooner it is over the better.  Now, I only wish this had happened when the new baby girl was here because now I have to figure out a way for her to get the pox too.  Ugh.  I am supposed to go to my doc tomorrow.  I feel like death warmed over.  Pretty sure the kids aren't eating tonight or any time until I feel better.  Microwave popcorn it is.  Or ramen.  They can all make those themselves, lol!  Just kidding.  Somehow I will suck it up and do all the things I am supposed to do.  I just might be a giant grump monster while I do it.  Oh, and the hot water came back to my washing machine so yay, I guess I can do laundry too!  I'm thrilled. 
P.S. It is snowing again and I am cursing the frost giants for this weather!!!  Hurry up Spring!

Craptastic Day

And now the kids are getting sick and Jeremy and I are getting it bad too. All upper respiratory and throat.  And Eden just might have it the easiest of all of us with a case of the chicken pox.  Poor thing has them all over in her crotch though. I can't get her in to the doc to make sure that is what it is but, it sure looks like it.   Great.  Freaking great.  FML. I have a call in to the doctor to see if there is anything that can be done.  I don't guess anyone out there wants to take all my kids so I can rest!  haha! Oh wait, I don't get to have sick days. You know what is worse than going to work sick??  Staying home with sick kids and being sick too.  Or better yet, taking the sick kids with your sick self to the doctor.  Oh, and being pregnant too. I feel like garbage.  My kids aren't going out any more this winter.  No friends or families houses, no sleepovers, nothing. We have not had this much sickness EVER.  What is with this winter?!  Ugh, whatever.  I'm gonna roll with it.  I have to catch up on laundry too because our pipes froze to our washer. Jeremy went to Walmart late at night the night before last to get a space heater for the basement to help unfreeze it.  Two hours and a $100 later he was home and opened the box to find out the manual is missing and so are some of the parts to the dang thing!  Gah!  Somehow he got it worked out with his mad man skills and put the heater in the basement.  This morning we have cold water to the washer but, not hot.  Hopefully that will come too.  We cannot go without laundry around here. I am seriously annoyed. 

Once There Was a Place Called School

Just got word that schools will be cancelled again tomorrow.  Great.  I didn't want this Christmas vacation to come to an end but, it has to sometime, right?!  Oh well, we have been having "parties" with the kids and they really like it.  A party is just good food (and boy have we been eating our fair share of "good food"), movies or good tv shows, soda or punch, and games!!  Easy peasy. Each of the kids got a new board game for Christmas so we have been playing a lot.
I was trying really hard to eat good this pregnancy and then all of a sudden I got HUNGRY.  Like I want to eat all the time hungry.  Ugh.  It's okay, I am going to embrace it and have my last baby and get fit again all before I am 40 and my metabolism changes yet again in my life.  haha!  Good plan, right?  I think so.  The way I look at it, this is my last time to overindulge and have a legitimate reason for it, so I better take advantage of it!
Looks like we have another party night tonight!! Hopefully with no bat this time!!  

Christmas Morning 2013

 Santa Claus had to move the Christmas tree again this year when he delivered presents.  It just makes the Christmas day so much more festive when the tree is in the room that you are opening presents in.  The kids were amazed at the sight they saw bright and early.  Jeremy and I didn't get to bed until almost one.  Tristan woke up right after that.  Cedric was up at three and got Liam up.  I had to pee at four and they kept me up.  I was so dang tired.  At 4:45 I told them they could go get Dad and Cullen and Asher.  They were all so excited but, we didn't know what to do about Eden.  She was actually sleeping and we know that she is a giant grump when she gets woken up.  But, we finally did it and just took things slow with her.  She did great!  

 I took more video than pictures this year and if they video turned out anything like the pictures then oh my!  I was like the drunken, delusional photographer or something! lol! I was so groggy that everything is out of focus or the flash wasn't on or whatever.  Oh well.  

 Eden got a doll house and LOVES it!!! Thank goodness!  I LOVE it too!

 Each year we decide on a specific number of presents to give the kids.  They like to count how many they have and they younger ones don't realize the value of the money yet so number of presents works out good for us.  So, this year we wanted to make Christmas more about the SPIRIT of Christmas rather than the GIFTS of Christmas.  Each kid got the smallest amount of gifts we have ever given and I think it ended up being the BEST year yet!  They got the things they REALLY wanted or needed and not a lot of "filler" presents (well except for stocking which I was also proud of this year but, didn't get pictures of, dang it.) Anyway, I always remember Christmas morning getting a crap ton of presents from Santa Claus and it was magical for me.  

 The whole month before Christmas Cullen had three things on his list:

Train track

Iron Man

Robot Dog

And Santa came through with that and a little more!! He also got a tablet because he is always stealing our phones to play games on, the little stinker.  He was so cute and giddy!  

 Eden wouldn't pose with all her gifts or even stand there with the ones I could get stacked.  Every time I started to stack them up, she got mad and took them away, lol! So, this is not all of them.  

 Liam is such a clown!  I never get a serious face or smile out of him but, I don't mind!  He was really excited the whole morning too and I think Santa really surprised him on a few things!! Score one for Santa!! Liam had asked for a Nintendo DS and he got it too!

 Tristan had asked for a tablet and that was it.  He got that and some other things he didn't know about.  He was especially thrilled with the headphones he got so he can do some online gaming better and easier!  

 Asher was overjoyed with all his loot as well!  He got a new PSP and was especially stoked for the new Beyblades!! 

 Cedric got a new tablet as well and another highlight was his Dr. Who Sonic Screwdrivers!!  I love that he loves Dr. Who!

After present opening, I put the Christmas casserole that I made the night before in the oven and let that cook....It has to cook for nearly two hours so that early in the morning is a great time to put it on! lol! It is a tradition now and hopefully for years to come.  We all settled in with our new stuff to veg and eat and play.  

The night before Jeremy and I had exchanged gifts and he did great again as usual.  I just did okay for him as usual, lol!  One of the things he got me was a new lens for my camera (a portrait one) and a bunch of new toys for my camera that I will have to play around with!  And a Kindle Fire HD that I think Jeremy will keep for himself because I don't like it. You just can't do the same things on a Kindle that you can do on a tablet and that is what I want, a tablet. 

Eden played and played and played with her new dollhouse.  I have to admit, it is flipping awesome.  I played with her for while too! 

 Liam has been playing nonstop Pokemon ever since!! 

 Cullen and his Iron Man toy!

 Eden was the first one to pass out! 

 The boys were pretty much in computer induced bliss the rest of the day!  

 Cullen liked the dollhouse too.

 Liam and Asher playing really good together with their new Pokemon cards.  I took a video of it too.  I will have to post some of the videos because I'm sure they are great! 

We had such a good Christmas this year!  I am so thankful for my wonderful family.  Christmas was on a Wednesday and Jeremy decided to stay home the next day too so we could all continue our time together.  It was awesome. 

This Seems Appropriate

LOVE These Quote

“I did make a conscious decision, a long time ago, to choose time over money, since I’ve always understood that the best investment of my limited time on earth was to spend it with people I love. I suppose it’s possible I’ll lie on my deathbed regretting that I didn’t work harder and say everything I had to say, but I think what I’ll really wish is that I could have one more beer with Chris, another long talk with Megan, one last good hard laugh with Boyd. Life is too short to be busy.”
 -Tim Kreider

Another great thing from his article that is called "The Busy Trap"

"Even children are busy now, scheduled down to the half-hour with classes and extracurricular activities. They come home at the end of the day as tired as grown-ups. I was a member of the latchkey generation and had three hours of totally unstructured, largely unsupervised time every afternoon, time I used to do everything from surfing the World Book Encyclopedia to making animated films to getting together with friends in the woods to chuck dirt clods directly into one another’s eyes, all of which provided me with important skills and insights that remain valuable to this day. Those free hours became the model for how I wanted to live the rest of my life."

" Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfiguring as rickets. The space and quiet that idleness provides is a necessary condition for standing back from life and seeing it whole, for making unexpected connections and waiting for the wild summer lightning strikes of inspiration — it is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done."

Batman and Batgirl Defeat Evil

Oh my goodness!!! Okay, so Jeremy and I had just set ourselves down on the couch after taking all the kids upstairs for bedtime stories, prayers, etc. and not two seconds later Jeremy looks at me and says "I swear I just saw a bat fly down the steps."  I laughed and was like "no you didn't".  Then I looked over at the stairwell and SAW A FREAKING BAT FLY BACK UP THE STAIRS!!!!

holy FREAKING crap-ola!!!!

  @##$!*)$!@$*!

Okay, so we had no idea what in the world to do.  None at all.  I have two brooms in the house.  I grabbed one and decided to try to move the Christmas tree so that we could open the front door and try to shoo it out the door.  Easy, right?  Wrong.  Oh so wrong.  Wrong as wrong can be.  I walked over to the tree and right then the bat flew down the stairs and I flipped out!  I ran away swinging the broom behind me as I went, screaming like a banshee chicken!  Jeremy is screaming "You hit it, you hit it, get back here!" But, I couldn't wrap my mind around what he was saying and continued running into the kitchen where I proceeded to open the fridge and freezer doors in an effort to block the bat from following me!  LOL!  I have no idea what I was thinking!??!  So, the bat got back up off the ground and flew back up the steps. 
 Then Jeremy took the broom and decided to try to look up the steps.,  He is standing at the landing swinging the broom at the bat, trying to knock it to the ground.  He then decided to jump as high as he can to try to get the bat with the broom....only he forgets that he is standing on the landing and slams his poor little head into the ceiling!! He left a huge hole in the ceiling and said he thought he broke his neck!! Bahahaha!!  And he broke the broom!  He snapped the head of it right off.  We were laughing and freaking out at that same time!  I finally got the tree moved and we opened the door and propped it open so that now the full force of the Winter Storm Ion was upon us and our house.  At this point the bat flies down and avoids the door and we swat at it/run away and it ends up in the coat closet.  I take this opportunity to run upstairs and let the kids know that nothing bad is happening (yes, it is!).  I find the older boys all huddled in Liam and Asher's room talking about something is attacking us downstairs!  I go into my room where Cullen and Eden are.  Eden is curious and wants to come downstairs.  Cullen is mortified and sobbing underneath the comforter.  I get the older boys and tell them to all go to my room and not open the door.  Eden won't stay in so she is fighting the bat with us/in our way the entire rest of the time.  I sneak back downstairs and get on the computer real quick to look up bat removal (ha!).  Jeremy is contemplating how to get it out of the coat closet.  The house is freezing.  We shut the door.  Online it says that you need to get the bat on the ground because it cannot take off very well from the ground.  And then capture it and take it in to get tested for rabies and what not.  Great.  Just great.
Jeremy decided to dress up like a cat burglar and see if he can capture it.  It flies out of the closet, (I run away again) he starts smacking it with the broom (breaks it) and gets it on the ground on the landing of the steps.  The broken broom then bends in the middle and Jeremy can't swat it anymore and the bat flies over to the other side of the dining room where we can't see it.  Perfect.  We are obviously good at this.  Jeremy then asks if there is an animal control number we can call.  I just look at him like he has completely lost his marbles.  (I think the bonk on the head clouded his thinking a bit, lol).  Yep, I bet animal control would be right out in the middle of the Polar Vortex that was upon us!  So, we try to come up with a new plan of action.  We are using the lids to large rubbermaid storage containers at the point to swat at the thing with because we have no brooms left.  Jeremy timidly starts going to the corner of the dining room when I see the bat hanging on my Santa figure on top of my book shelf!!  It falls to the floor where I think it is immobilized since Jeremy beat the crap out of it with a broken broom.  So, I tell Jeremy to move the book shelf and cover it with a big rubbermaid container so we can capture it.  As soon as he moves the book shelf the bat shoots out right at me and sends me into a tizzy into the kitchen again!!! GAh!!!!!  It goes back up the steps and perches (hangs upside down) right on our door frame.  We yell at the kids to stuff a blanket at the base of the door so that the bat can't get under it (we read this online too) and try to come up with yet another battle plan.  So, Jeremy in his crazy head to toe bat fighting outfit slowly walks up the steps and tries to smack it off the door and into a box.  Well, he succeeded in getting it on the ground then covered it with the box.  Then we had to figure out how to get something underneath it so we could pick the box up.  I ripped up some cardboard and we had to slowly and shove it underneath as the bat is screeching and clicking around in the box trying to get out.  UGH, freaky!  WE get the cardboard underneath it and then duct tape the cardboard to the edge of the box.  Jeremy took it outside and left it there with a snow covered garbage can on top of it.  Wheew!!!
Now, where the heck did it come from!?!?!?  Are there more?!!? Crap almighty, I can't take another episode like that!!  It took us over an hour to get it out.  Cullen is now on a bat kick and worried about everything about it.  Oh my!  So, this morning Jeremy goes outside to check on the cars and what not and comes back and said that the whole box, bat and all, are gone.  Super.  Now, our neighbors will find a rubbermaid box with cardboard duct taped to the top with a stinking dead bat inside......at least it should be dead in that cold, right!?!?!?!?!?  Other casualties of the bat fight, both our brooms, a new rubbermaid container (a big 20 gal. size too) and our ceiling and a few stray ornaments from the tree!!  So, how does our evening during the storm compare to yours!??! LOL! 

Breast Is Best No Doubt

How Human Milk Protects Babies From Illness

Posted on August 8, 2013 by admin in Why Breast is Best No Comments

Human milk is more than food. It’s a complex living substance, like blood, with a long list of active germ-fighting and health-promoting ingredients. These help protect babies against all kinds of infections, common and not-so-common.
A drop of breastmilk contains around one million white blood cells. These cells, called macrophages (“big eaters”), gobble up germs. Breastmilk is also power-packed with immunoglobulin A (IgA), which coats the lining of babies’ immature intestines, preventing germs from leaking through. Secretory IgA also works to prevent food allergies. By coating the intestinal lining like a protective paint, it prevents molecules of foreign foods from getting into the bloodstream to set up an allergic reaction.
Colostrum, the milk mothers produce in the first few days after birth, is especially rich in IgA, just at the time when the newborn is first exposed to the outside world and needs protection from germs and foreign substances entering his body. Colostrum also contains higher amounts of white blood cells and infection-fighting substances than mature milk. Think of colostrum as your baby’s first important immunization.
As babies grow, mother’s milk continues to provide important protection against infection and disease. Human infants receive antibodies through the placenta, but these are gradually used up during the first six months. Human milk fills in the immunity gap until baby’s own immune system matures and kicks in. Even babies who continue to nurse into toddlerhood benefit from the many immune factors in their mother’s milk.
Immunities made-to-order. Each mother provides custom-designed milk to protect her infant. When a baby is exposed to a new germ, mother’s body manufactures antibodies to that germ. These antibodies show up in her milk and are passed along to her baby. Many a nursing mother can tell the story of the entire family–dad, mom, siblings–coming down with the flu and the nursing baby having the mildest case, or not getting sick at all. When mother comes down with a bug, the best thing she can do for her baby is to keep breastfeeding.

BREASTFED BABIES ARE HEALTHIER

Derrick and Patrice Jelliffe, pioneers in breastfeeding research, stated that breastfed infants are “biochemically different.” This difference in body chemistry may be the reason they are healthier. While babies are breastfeeding, they have fewer and less serious respiratory infections, less diarrhea, and less vomiting. When breastfed babies do become ill, they are less likely to become dehydrated and need hospitalization.
Here are some specific ways in which breastfeeding protects babies from illness:

• Friendly to little ears. Ear infections are a childhood nuisance, often following on the heels of stuffy noses and colds. The middle ear fills with fluid, and eventually that fluid becomes infected, causing pain, especially in the middle of the night. Repeated ear infections, or those that go untreated, can lead to hearing loss. This is an important concern in young children, since hearing difficulties can interfere with language, and language problems can later affect reading skills.  Breastfeeding protects against ear infections in four possible ways:
  
  1. The many germ-fighting ingredients in human milk keep harmful bacteria from bothering baby, so that stuffed-up noses and ears are less likely to become infected middle ears.
  2. Because breastfed babies are fed in a more upright position, they’re less likely to experience milk backing up through the eustachian tube into their ears; if this does happen during a breastfeeding session, human milk is less irritating to the tissues of the middle ear than infant formula.
  3. Breastfed babies have fewer, or at least less severe, colds than formula-fed babies. Fewer colds means fewer ear infections.
  4. Breastfed babies have fewer respiratory allergies, another cause of fluid building up in the middle ear, which setts the stage for bacteria to grow. 
• Protects tiny tummies. Human milk excels at protecting babies from diarrhea and tummy upsets. This is important not only for individual babies but also on a global scale. Diarrhea is a leading cause of infant mortality worldwide, and breastfeeding is the simplest, most cost- effective way to protect babies from repeated bouts of gastrointestinal illness.  Another way in which breastfeeding protects tiny tummies is by promoting the growth of healthful bacteria in the intestines. Intestines are healthiest when you can keep the right “bugs” in the bowels. The healthful bacteria, known as bifidus bacteria, do good things for the body in return for a warm place to live. They manufacture vitamins and nutrients and keep the harmful bacteria in check. The high levels of lactose in breastmilk particularly encourage the growth of the healthful resident bacteria Lactobacillus bifidus.
• Protects against other infection. Studies have found that breastfeeding protects against a wide variety of other diseases. Here’s a partial list: 
  
  • Haemophilus influenzae type B
  • Pneumonia caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae
  • Meningitis
  • Infant botulism
  • Urinary tract infections
  • Cholera
  • Salmonella
  • E. coli infections
  • Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
• Reduces risk of SIDS. Many parents are relieved to learn that breastfed babies are less likely to become victims of SIDS. There are many ways in which breastfeeding could influence the incidence of SIDS. One recent theory suggests that infants who die of SIDS may sleep too deeply and fail to awaken if they stop breathing for a moment or two, as babies often do when they’re sleeping. Breastfed babies sleep less deeply and thus may be more likely to wake up if there is a problem with their breathing. Breastfeeding’s protection against infection may also help to lower the SIDS risk. (See Breastfeeding and SIDS) 
• Fewer problems with reflux. While all babies spit up a bit, some regurgitate excessive amounts of milk, because of a condition called gastroesophageal reflux (GER). Normally, the circular band of muscle where the esophagus joins the stomach acts like a one-way valve, keeping milk, food, and stomach acids from backing up into the esophagus when the stomach contracts. When it doesn’t do its job and these acids enter the esophagus, the result is an irritation that adults would call heartburn. In many infants, it takes six months to a year for this muscle to mature enough to prevent this regurgitation or reflux. GER is less of a problem in breastfed infants because breastmilk is emptied twice as fast from the stomach. It’s less likely to be regurgitated than slow-to-digest formula with its tough casein curds.

The Garage

 I didn't get this posted awhile back.  My mom and Misty came over and painted my garage and the window trim on the bottom floor windows.  I wasn't about to send my mom up a ladder to the second story windows, lol!  They did a great job!  And my mom even replaced the broken window on the end there!  All by herself!  She amazes me at the things she knows how to do!  A funny story though.....the cat would always jump up through that window in bad weather and hang out in the garage.   Well, I was in the garage a couple days after this and heard a big thud and smack on the garage door.  The cat had tried jumping through the window and smacked right into it instead! LMAO!!  Funny stuff! 

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Mistletoes

 All of the kids always bring home the cutest things!  Cullen made this at school this Christmas.  It was wrapped up for Jeremy and I.   Cullen was pretty proud of it too!

Is Rice Cereal The Best First Food For Baby? | Modern Alternative Mama

Is Rice Cereal The Best First Food For Baby? | Modern Alternative Mama


 

• Date: December 26, 2013
• Comments: 1 Comment
• 
  

By contributing writer Sarah Nichols
Have you ever wondered how rice cereal became the most recommended first solid to feed babies? I always just assumed that when I had kids I would feed them rice cereal and baby food. However, after the traumatic birth of my first-born son, I began to question most things that are considered standard these days.  In fact, the whole idea of rice baby cereal seemed counter-intuitive. After all, it is highly processed and full of synthetic vitamins, which we generally try to avoid. So I did what I always do and dove head-first into the research.

Why Does Everyone Start with Baby Cereal?

The first question I had to ask myself was: ‘Why is rice cereal so popular?’  The answers seem pretty clear.
1) Rice cereal is fortified with iron. After about 6 months of age, babies need to find other sources of iron besides breastmilk or formula, so many choose fortified baby cereals. (1)
2) Rice cereal is hypoallergenic. Many pediatricians recommend starting with rice cereal because it is a single grain and it is rare to have a rice allergy.
3) Many tired, but well-intentioned moms have been told that feeding their baby rice cereal will help them to sleep longer at night. (Even though recent studies have shown babies fed rice-cereal before 4 months slept less than babies who had no solids.(2))
4) Many parents feel the bland taste of white rice and smooth texture make it a perfect food for teaching a baby how to swallow solids.

Is Rice Cereal Really a Good Choice?

First, we must remember that infants have survived and thrived for thousands of years without eating rice cereal. Rice cereal wasn’t even invented until around the time of the Industrial Revolution (3), therefore, it is clearly not a NECESSITY.  However, as a convenience, is it good for our babies? I don’t think so and here’s why:
Nutrition
It is important to feed our babies nutrient-dense food.  At such a young age, they don’t eat much, so what they do eat really needs to matter nutrient-wise.  Although white rice cereal is fortified with synthetic vitamins, there are many other real-food options that contain more nutrients and are much healthier for their little bodies.
Starch
White rice cereal is a starch and converted to glucose through the digestion process.  Some research suggests that starting our kids on starchy foods, develops in them a taste preference for starchy foods which could ultimately lead to obesity and diabetes later on down the road. (4) Now white rice cereal is obviously not the only reason a child may become obese or develop diabetes, but it certainly appears to be a factor.
Synthetic Iron
Rice cereal is fortified with a synthetic form of iron which is not absorbed as readily as naturally occurring iron. Furthermore, introducing iron-fortified foods at an early age can actually reduce how efficiently your baby is able to absorb iron.  Here is what Kellymom.com has to say about it:

“As long as your baby is exclusively breastfed (and receiving no iron supplements or iron-fortified foods), the specialized proteins in breastmilk ensure that baby gets the available iron (instead of “bad” bacteria and such). Iron supplements and iron in other foods is available on a first come, first served basis, and there is a regular “free-for-all” in the baby’s gut over it. The “bad” bacteria thrive on the free iron in the gut. In addition, iron supplements can overwhelm the iron-binding abilities of the proteins in breastmilk, thus making some of the iron from breastmilk (which was previously available to baby only) available to bacteria, also. The result: baby tends to get a lower percentage of the available iron. (5)

Whole Grains
But what about organic, whole grain rice cereals? Those aren’t fortified and are not simply starch. The problem with whole grain cereals is the phytic acid.  The bran in the rice (or oats) contains phytic acid which is what stores the phosphorous and other vitamins making it unavailable to us.  Then, to process the phytic acid, our body has to pull calcium to bind with the phytic acid.  Therefore we actually lose nutrients when we eat whole grains that aren’t prepared properly.  You could soak the cereal to reduce the phytic acid and make it more digestible, but it would need to be soaked for around 16 to 24 hours. (6)  If you only consume whole grains sparingly, then it’s not something to worry about too much, however, if it’s something you are planning to feed your baby every day as their main solid, then I would definitely reconsider.
Digestion
There is a lot of information out there that says children are not able to digest starches until they cut their molars (sometime between one and two), because they lack the necessary digestive enzymes. (7)(8)  However, I could not find any reputable study that confirms this.  In fact, several studies show that there is a considerable amount of the digestive enzyme amylase in breastmilk which could help a baby break down starch. (9) So if you are breastfeeding an older infant, then you are giving them the tools they need to break down starches.  Even though it does look like older breast-fed babies are able to digest starch, I still don’t think that’s reason enough to feed them baby cereal due to the previously listed issues.

So What Should I Feed My Baby?

Egg yolks and avocados are two great foods to start the transition to solids with.  They are both high in the necessary and important healthy fats, nutritious, and easy to prepare. Liver, sweet potato, broccoli, bone broth, and carrots are other great nutrient-dense options.
Reminder: Have you signed up for our 31 Days to Better Health and Wellness challenge yet? It’s not too late!! Read all the details about how to become a more beautiful you in 2014! http://www.modernalternativemama.com/31-days-to-better-health-wellness-2014#.UrhUnPRDvxQ

How do you feel about baby cereals?

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Forgotten Swimming Lessons

Oh my, Jeremy and I realized that we completely spaced signing the kids up for the swimming lessons at the YMCA in Macomb!! GAh!  Annoying.  I guess when it is cold outside you don't exactly having swimming on your mind.  Dang it.  I am going to look into it and see when the next session starts.  Or maybe sign up for two sessions this summer at Hamilton??  I don't know.  I will have a new baby and a fat body this summer.  Seven kids to swimming lessons!?!?  I just don't know.  But, I was thinking about getting a pool for the house this summer and I want them all to have a little knowledge of swimming.  Hmmmmm... just more stuff to think about. 

Carpet Samples

We brought some carpet samples home to decide what kind of carpet we want.  Well, Eden found them and thinks they are the greatest things ever! lol!  She plays with them so much.  She will set them on the floor and jump from each one to the others.  She picks them up and hands them to me one at a time counting all the while.  Which, by the way, this girl is an expert counter.  She says all the numbers very clearly too.  And VERY RARELY messes any numbers up.  It's because she is a smart little cookie! 

My New Phone

We had a really bad snowstorm earlier in December.  I had to drive to Nauvoo and back in it.  Jeremy had been on me for awhile about getting a new phone because mine we stupid but, I insisted that I didn't need a new phone.  Well, it was a frightening experience with three of the kids in the car.  I couldn't get ahold of Jeremy because my phone was being stupid again and I had had enough.  The storm was so bad that Jeremy wasn't home from Quincy until about ten o'clock that night and one of his old highschool classmates actually died while driving in it!  When he got home I was complaining that it was so scary.  He hopped on the computer and ordered me a new phone right then and there! lol!  He is so sweet.  He got me the new i-phone 5 s or whatever it is and asked me what color I wanted.  They didn't have purple or brown so I said green.  Eh, whatever.  Anyway, it came and I love it!  I still don't use my smart phone like most people do but, I am just not a phone lover.  Another thing that irritates me is when I am riding in the car or shopping or hanging out with people that constantly text and take phone calls.  Ugh.  I'm not that person.  I have always not liked phones.  Oh well. 

Marriage Challenge

Jeremy and I have decided that this will be a GREAT year.  One of the MANY things we are going to do is this cute little 31 day Marriage Challenge!  It looks like fun!  Some of the things we already do regularly but, it will be fun to follow along and have things planned for the days when we are in bad moods or just not feeling very creative with date ideas.  We printed one out on cardstock to hang up and check the days off but, also keeping a digital version going because all the dates in red have links to them with extra printables or information to go along with it!  I am really excited!  I hope this website keeps it up and does all the months! LOL!

Baby Stuff...And Other Things

 I am trying to get busy getting ready for baby.  We have much to do and little time to do it in.  We are on the lookout for builders that will come in and just take care of things for us.  And by that I mean, we tell them what we want done and they get it done lickety-split without a lot of hassle or delay.  Haha, I know, right!?  Well, that is my wish anyway.  We will be making the dining room into a fifth bedroom.  The current garage will be made into a dining room with an open, new kitchen (complete with new cabinets, flooring, and lighting.  Also, at the back of the current garage will be a new bathroom and laundry room.  We then want to add a new garage to the side of the house.  In the dining room where the garage door is, I want a big bay window with a big window seat and shelves!  Then our current living room will be bigger because our laundry room will be out of it.  We will carpet it and buy new living room furniture.  The entire upstairs will also be re-carpeted as I am sure that the current carpet has been there since 1942 AND IT IS REALLY NASTY!  Lol!  I want all that done super duper fast so I can focus on the baby coming especially since it is right at end of school time and Cedric's birthday AND my 15th wedding anniversary.

So far, I have bought a few baby girl outfits and onesies and sleepers.  Also a baby calendar with stickers to mark milestones and events.  My good friend, Brielle, just gave me one of her old high chairs!! It was so nice of her!  It is like the one pictured at the top!  It is super cute!  I always wanted a nice wooden high chair that wasn't all cheesy baby looking.  I think I am going to do that with all the baby stuff.  Anyway, I am also trying out a new breast feeding pillow.  I have heard rave reviews of the "My Brest Friend" brand feeding pillows and Zulily had them on sale one day so I decided to give it a try!  I have always been a fan of Boppy brand but, all the things I didn't like about Boppy seem to be solved with the My Brest Friend.  Now, I will need to try it out with an actual baby but, I am optimistic!

I have picked out my car seat/stroller combo and will be getting it soon because once Spring comes I am going to start pushing Eden around in it to get some exercise.  It is a jogging stroller combo and I hope I like it.  The reviews are great and it is highly rated for safety and other features.  It is the most money I have ever spent on a travel system so I better like it! haha!

I'm having a hard time sleeping.  I am like the Princess and the Pea when it comes to my sleeping arrangements and I hate being uncomfortable.  For me, sleeping on my side is the epitome of discomfort.  Strong, strong dislike for it.  So, I bought a Boppy brand pregnancy pillow.  I figured that I trusted the Boppy brand and it was cheaper than most of the others I was looking at.  It was only ($59 plus tax in comparison to over $100 for others).  Well, now I feel like the fool because it sucks really bad.  I hate it in fact.  You know the old saying of "You get what you pay for." ?  Well, it holds true in this case.  I wish I had just spent the extra money on a better pillow.  Ugh.

I am having a hard time with names for this little girl though.  I have a handful that I like but, I just don't feel right yet.  I feel like I haven't considered all the possibilities yet but, when I look around on baby name sites there aren't any others that pop out at me.  I think I am actually narrowing it down and I don't like that feeling.  Because then I feel like I am naming the baby before seeing her.  I think that is the dumbest thing ever.
My brain is obviously going kukoo.  I have so SO much on my mind.

This Friday, I have to get Eden to her first Speech therapy appointment at the hospital in Quincy.  On Monday, I have to have her to the Audiologist in Quincy.  On the 9th I have my bi-weekly appointment with  Dr. Jones.  I guess, I am just going to be going to see him every two or three weeks for the whole pregnancy.  Joy.  Also, later this month I have two more appointments for Eden in Quincy, one for Asher in Quincy, and one for myself in Peoria.  In February we get to take Eden to Washington University to the pediatric neurologist.  I think this appointment will be a waste of time but, always better safe than sorry.  I just hope she lets them do the procedure on her because I just don't think she will.  I wouldn't want to be hooked up to electrodes either.

We wanted to take the kids on a Family vacation before I had the baby so we could all still fit in the car, lol!  I just don't know if we will get it done though with all the other stuff we have to do!  I have been looking around though and I'm itching to leave so who knows, maybe we will just pack up and go!!

I have TONS And TONS of stuff to blog about from 2013 still and now here it is New's Year's Day 2014!! AGh, how did this happen!?!? hahaha!  I guess I need to get my butt in gear and get that blogging done.  But, we have been having a great time together as a family this whole Christmas vacation and I don't want it to end!  It has been blissful!