Not Vaccinated? No kisses *Insert ugly baby face here*

First item of business. Jeff thinks I made him sound like a huge jerk in my last post, so FYI Jeff is not a huge jerk. Sometimes just a normal amount of jerk, but mostly nice. And not a slave driver.
I got lots of awesome feedback on my post on vaccinations. If you didn't read that one you can read it here. I wanted to answer everyone's comments, so I'm just going to write a follow-up.

I'm a huge supporter of people making their own decisions, and doing what they think is right. I'm not a supporter of people deciding what they think is right, and then assuming everyone else is wrong for doing something different. I've found some information that has helped me in making certain health care decisions for Grace, so I thought I'd share a few things.

The pediatrician serves as the recruiter for the medical profession. He indoctrinates your child from birth into a lifelong dependence on medical intervention. It begins with a succession of needless "well baby check-ups" and immunizations and then moves on to routine annual physical examinations and endless treatment of minor ailments that would cure themselves if they were left alone.

Pediatricians are the least likely of all specialists to tell parents about the potential side effects of the drugs and treatments they prescribe. What pediatrician ever told mothers of the evidence linking infant formula to high blood load levels and Sudden Infant Death syndrome? What pediatrician, until pressured to do so by the media, ever told parents of the risk of epilepsy and mental retardation associated with the immunizations that he performs?

The pediatricians wanton prescribing of powerful drugs indoctrinates children from birth with the philosophy of "a pill for every ill". This may lead the child to the belief that there is a drug to treat every condition and that drugs are an appropriate response to normal feelings of frustration, depression, anxiety, inadequacy, insecurity, etc.

Pediatricians are so accustomed to seeing patients who aren't really sick that they often fail to recognize the ones who are. This happened to us when we took Grace to the hospital at a few weeks old. She had a cough so bad that she would gag and throw up, or stop breathing for a few seconds. It got so bad that we took her to the hospital late one night to get help. Some grumpy old lady came in, took off her diaper, flipped her around a few times, paying no attention to Grace's comfort, and said that there wasn't any fluid in her lungs, so she must be fine. Then she asked us why we hadn't had her vaccinated yet, and said she strongly suggested that we do so. Then she left, and we went home with a still-sick baby that was receiving no calories, and was coughing herself to death. I sat up all night with her, and spent all day in the bathroom with her in steam showers for a week. This was traumatizing to brand new parents, and I attribute her recovery to the priesthood blessings she received from Jeff and her uncle Ryan. No thanks to the doctor.

The myth persists that American children enjoy better health care because of our abundance of pediatricians. That belief is wrong. Infant mortality statistics reveal that American children are less healthy than those in many other developed nations that have few pediatricians. They're even less healthy than children in some of the underdeveloped countries.

Most doctors ignore the fact that the human body is a wondrous machine with an astonishing capacity to repair itself. If you take your sick child to the doctor, he probably wont allow it to do that. Instead, he will interfere with the body's natural defenses by giving your child treatment that he doesn't need and shouldn't get, with side effects that his body is not designed to handle.

Above all else, I listen to my own intuition, and trust in my own instincts. I know that being a mother is a calling from God, and that he will equip me with all that I need. If this includes medical care then I will take it, but I will not follow a health care path that is laid out for me by people who I do not know, and who do not have my family's best interest at heart. I feel uncomfortable subjecting Grace to potentially harmful vaccines at this time, but will reevaluate every few years. If something nasty comes around then I will absolutely do what I need to in order to protect her.

I love hearing any new information, and appreciate different opinions. No, of course, I'm not at all offended. Now I have to get off of here, because I have a nasty cold, and my tissues have run out. No pictures. Sorry.